Public loses environmental case

Public loses environmental case

PEKANBARU, Riau Island: A legal foundation is planning to file an
appeal at the high court after losing a case against 10 firms
accused of being responsible for spreading haze in Pekanbaru city
between January and March this year.

According to the lawsuit, the companies were to blame because
they had allegedly cleared land through burning the forest,
producing the choking haze. It was unclear why the court favored
the firms in the case.

"The appeal will be filed quickly," said Hendrisya, the
director of Pekanbaru's Indonesia Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI).

The foundation lodged the class action lawsuit a few months
ago with the Pekanbaru District Court along with three groups of
people claiming to have suffered from the choking haze. The
groups of people in question were parents whose children were
treated at hospitals and school children who had to skip school
when the haze spread in the city between January and March this
year.

Haze has been an annual problems on Sumatra island and it has
affected neighboring countries Singapore and Malaysia. The
government has taken several measures to combat the haze problem,
but it still occurs especially during dry season. -- Antara