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