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Govt sanctions 4 companies for involvement in lighting fires
Thick smoke emanates from burning forests in Pekanbaru, Riau
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Thick smoke emanates from burning forests in Pekanbaru, Riau. (tempo.co) (tempo.co)
Thick smoke emanates from burning forests in Pekanbaru, Riau. (tempo.co)
The government has revoked the forest concession license of one company and suspended the licenses of three others for their alleged involvement in starting the land and forest fires currently affecting several provinces across Kalimantan and Sumatra.
'The companies cannot operate anymore,' the Environment and Forestry Ministry's director general of environment and forestry law enforcement Rasio Ridho Sani said as quoted by tempo.co in Jakarta on Tuesday.
The company sanctioned with a license revocation is plantation company PT Hutani Sola Lestari while the three companies hit with license suspensions are PT Langgam Hibrindo Inti, PT Tempiray Palm Rosources and PT K. Agro Jaya.
Rasio further explained the ministry was still investigating 18 other companies. 'We cannot yet publish [their names] as we are still in the process of collecting data,' he said.
Rasio said license suspensions and permit revocations were among the forceful measures the government had planned to take against companies allegedly involved in lighting land and forest fires. It was hoped that the sanctions would serve as a deterrent for the perpetrators, he added.
Rasio further asserted that the ministry would take tough measures against any company, either from Indonesia or abroad, involved in lighting forest fires. 'Every fire starter has an equal position before the law,' he said.
The Environment and Forestry Ministry says it has also targeted individual perpetrators of the forest fires. Rasio said the ministry's investigators were looking into 21 people allegedly involved in the fires. He refused to give details on their identities.
"It's still in the hands of the investigators. Criminal law enforcement is a long process, from the investigation to the prosecution and trial," Rasio said.
Meanwhile, National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) chief Willem Rampangilei stated that the government had disbursed Rp 500 billion (US$37.3 million) to solve haze problems in South Sumatra and several other provinces in Sumatra and Kalimantan over the past two months.
"Of the six provinces affected by haze during this year's dry season, South Sumatra is the province absorbing most of the funds," he said. (ami/ebf)(++++)
