Riau Police Chief Ensures Stern Action Against Land and Forest Fire Perpetrators: No Tolerance!
Riau Police Chief Irjen Pol Herry Heryawan is fully committed to law enforcement against perpetrators of land and forest fires (karhutla). This two-star general ensures that no tolerance will be given to karhutla perpetrators.
“Law enforcement must be firm and just. There must be no tolerance for burning perpetrators, whether intentional or hiding behind negligence excuses,” said Riau Police Chief Irjen Pol Herry Heryawan.
He conveyed this while monitoring karhutla in Bengkalis on Friday (3/4/2026). Present at the location were IPB University expert and forest fire forensics specialist, Prof Bambang Hero Saharjo, and Bengkalis Police Chief AKBP Fahrian Saleh Siregar.
Throughout 2025, Polda Riau and its ranks have handled 74 karhutla cases and arrested 74 suspects. On the other hand, preventive steps have also been taken by Polda Riau together with stakeholders by providing education to the public.
As a preventive effort, Polda Riau and the regional government have installed hundreds of warning boards on criminal threats for burning perpetrators, as well as prohibitions on utilising post-karhutla land for plantation activities.
“We want a deterrent effect. Land that has burned must not be reused, including for oil palm planting. This is part of the moratorium effort so that similar incidents do not recur,” added Irjen Herry.
Super El Niño Threat
Meanwhile, Prof Bambang Hero Saharjo reminded that this year’s situation requires extra serious attention and proactive steps before haze engulfs the archipelago.
The term ‘Super El Niño’ refers to the phenomenon of warming sea surface temperatures in the tropical Pacific Ocean reaching at least 2.7°C above average. Its impacts are significant: shifts in global atmospheric circulation that trigger extreme weather.
“With this 2.7°C condition, it is exactly like the 1997-1998 fire incident, where 10-11 million hectares of land burned and 500 lives were lost,” said Bambang.
On that occasion, Bambang also touched on the Green Policing programme of Polda Riau. According to him, tree planting is one effective way to suppress greenhouse gas emissions. Although it seems ‘playful’, tree planting can have a major impact if done more massively.
“Because the greenhouse gas emissions we release must be controlled with planting, and Riau Police Chief has done that, even though it looks ‘playful’ plant…plant…plant, but if we look at it scientifically, that is the way to suppress greenhouse gas emissions,” he said.
Bambang, who is also a forest fire forensics expert, assessed that the Green Policing programme initiated by Polda Riau aligns with efforts to reduce emissions or Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC).
“Emissions released due to fires must be balanced with carbon absorption. The way is by planting trees. This is not just symbolic, but a scientific solution to suppress CO2 in the atmosphere,” he explained.