Walhi plans to sue 20 firms over forest fires
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Indonesian Forum on the Environment (Walhi) said on Thursday it would file a lawsuit against 20 companies and seven local governments in Riau later this week over forest fires and their disastrous effects on the environment in the province.
Walhi executive director Longgena Ginting said that the lawsuit was necessary as the companies were involved in the forest fires and the local administrations in the province had taken no action against them.
"We hope we will win the case to help save the environment as well as to avoid any reappearance of thick haze that has hit not only the province but also neighboring countries.
"This lawsuit is also expected to raise public awareness of the importance of the law," he said, stressing that forest fires had been an annual phenomenon in Riau as many companies practiced the slash-and-burn method to clear their land for agriculture and plantations.
The coordinator of the Walhi office in Riau, Ruli Sumanda, said the companies that were allegedly involved in such practices, and which Walhi was going to sue, included PT Inti Indosawit, PT Jatim Jaya Perkasa and PT Ratt.
Walhi will also sue the relevant local authorities in Pekanbaru, Rokan Hulu, Rokan Hilir, Indragiri Hulu, Indragiri Hilir, Dumai, Bengkalis for their inaction in dealing with forest fires, he said.
So far, a Malaysian company, PT Adei Plantation, has been punished by a local court for causing forest fires. Its director was sentenced to two years in jail and the company was ordered to pay US$1.1 million in compensation to the government.
PT Cipta Daya Sejati in Kampar regency was also convicted but the punishments meted out were light. Three perpetrators were sentenced to between three months and six months in jail.
The government banned the slash-and-burn method in 1999, but many firms and local people still practice it to save on the cost of land clearance.
In a related development, air pollution in Pekanbaru has reached an alarming level over the last few days because of widespread forest fires in the province, raising health concerns and disrupting traffic.
The Environmental Management Agency (Bapedalda) office in Pekanbaru detected 1,280 hot spots in the province on June 9. The resulting thick haze has now reached the southern part of Thailand.
Meanwhile, the North Sumatra government has issued a high alert warning over the choking haze, and scores of firefighters and dozens of fire trucks have been deployed to put out forest fires in Labuhan Batu and South Tapanuli regencies.
In Tanjungbalai regency, thousands of fishermen have had their boats tied up for weeks as thick haze has limited visibility at sea to less than 100 meters.