'So disgusted to read this': '#SawitBaik' campaign launched amid forest fires in Sumatra, Kalimantan

Gisela Swaragita
The Jakarta Post

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Jakarta / Thu, September 19, 2019 / 09:02 am

Firefighters battle flames in a peatland area in Ogan Ilir, South Sumatra, on Aug. 10. Indonesian authorities have deployed thousands of personnel to tackle wildfires in an effort to stave off a repeat of the 2015 fires, which were the worst in two decades and choked the region with smog for weeks.(AFP/Abdul Qodir)

Amid a smog crisis in Sumatra and Kalimantan that has reportedly claimed a life and is harming the health of tens of thousands of people, a Twitter account promoting palm oil has caused outrage among netizens. The account @SawitBaikID is behind a pro-palm oil campaign spread through the hashtag #SawitBaik (palm is good). The Twitter account bio explains that “#SawitBaik is a national campaign by the Communications and Information Ministry supported by the Indonesian Oil Palm Estate Fund (BPDP-KS) and the Office of the Coordinating Finance Minister to provide comprehensive information about [palm oil]. “The hashtag #SawitBaik and campaign @SawitBaikID is sooo heartless”, stated a Twitter user with the handle @cikacuko. Tagar #sawitbaik dan kampanye @sawitbaik is sooo heartless 😭😭 — fitrianisutiyoso (@cikacuko) September 16, 2019 A use...

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