Walhi to sue 10 firms for Riau forest fires
Walhi to sue 10 firms for Riau forest fires
Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
A leading non-governmental organization is set to file a class
action lawsuit against 10 companies in connection with the August
forest fires and choking haze in Riau.
"We will sue the companies because they use slash-and-burn
techniques to clear land on their concession areas every year,"
Chalid Muhammad, the chairman of the Indonesia Environment Forum
(Walhi), asserted during a press conference on Saturday.
Claiming to represent people who suffered from the forest
fires, Walhi is expected to file the lawsuit with the Pekanbaru
District Court on Tuesday.
Chalid said Walhi would also report the companies to the
National Police Headquarters, the Attorney General's Office, the
Ministry of Forestry and the State Minister for the Environment
on Monday.
The choking haze resulting from the forest fires forced the
local authorities to close schools and called on residents to
limit their activities outside their homes.
The acrid smoke also spread to Malaysia and Singapore. Some
Malaysians held a protest outside the Indonesian embassy in Kuala
Lumpur to express their anger with the forest fires, which have
been occurring annually.
The government has promised to prosecute 10 plantation
companies, including eight from Malaysia, accused of deliberately
setting fires to clear forests to open up forests for oil palm
plantations on Sumatra island.
The Office of the State Minister for the Environment is
currently investigating the companies, whose names have been
withheld. They are facing air pollution charges.
According to the Ministry of Forestry, the eight Malaysian
companies control concessions of more than 200,000 hectares of
land in Sumatra.
The government has outlawed land clearance by burning, but has
usually failed to prosecute or imprison plantation owners and
logging firms accused of violating the law.
Officials have repeatedly vowed to bring them to court but no
action has been taken.
Environmentalists said the real test would come when the
companies were brought before a court of law.