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Batam businessman imprisoned for mangrove deforestation
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he Batam District Court in the Riau Islands has sentenced PT Prima Makmur Batam (PMB) director Zazli bin Kamel to five years and six months in prison and has ordered him to pay a Rp 1 billion (US$68,000) fine for clearing 6 hectares of mangrove forest for the construction of a residential development.
Judge David Sitorus read out the verdict during an online hearing on Tuesday. Zazli was found guilty of violating Law No. 32/2009 on the environment for damaging the air, water and sea water quality in the surrounding area.
The prison sentence was lower than the prosecutors’ demand of eight years’ imprisonment.
Environment and Forestry Ministry law enforcement director general Rasio Ridho Sani said he appreciated the Batam court’s verdict.
“The legal process went well. This should be an example to other courts to enforce the law and take stern measures against those who destroy forests,” Rasio told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.
Batam Prosecutor’s Office head Polin Octavianus Sitanggang said the office was waiting for the defendant’s response to the verdict.
“If the defendant wants to appeal, we will continue the trial,” Polin said, adding that the prosecutors had accepted the verdict because it fulfilled two thirds of the sentence they had demanded.
Speaking to the media, Rasio said his directorate general had recorded and planned to proceed with at least 40 cases of land grabbing in protected forest areas in Batam.
“We expect people’s active involvement in helping to uncover more deforestation cases, as we have received reports of 40 such cases,” he said.
Rasio said that apart from the PT PMB case, investigators from the Environment and Forestry Ministry’s law enforcement directorate general, along with prosecutors from the Attorney General’s Office, had submitted evidence and the names of suspects in two deforestation and environmental destruction cases to the Batam Prosecutors’ Office for further action.
One case concerns the deforestation of 6.188 hectares of the Sei Hulu Lanjai protected forest in Batu Besar, Nongsa district, Batam, which has allegedly been converted into housing lots by PT Kayla Alam Sentosa (PT KAS). The other is the deforestation of 7.094 hectares of the Duriangkang protected forest in Kabil, Nongsa district, Batam, which has also allegedly been converted into housing lots by PT Alif Mulia Jaya Batam (PT AMJB). (aly)
