Indonesia: President concerned, calls on legal action against forest arsonists

Rizal Harahap and Syofiardi Bachyul Jb, The Jakarta Post 17 Mar 14;

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) expressed on Sunday his concern over the perpetual forest and peatland fires in Riau, calling for legal action against those responsible.

“I am ashamed. As President, I’m deeply concerned, a lot of residents are losing sleep at night because of the actions of those irresponsible people,” SBY said in a meeting with dozens of residents in Minas area, Siak regency, Riau.

The President revealed that he had received a report that the forest and peatland fires in the province were the result of deliberate actions.

He said land concession holders instructed residents to set fire to land to open new plantation areas. “It causes losses to the state and the people are the ones who suffer.”

In his visit SBY was accompanied by State Secretary Sudi Silalahi, Coordinating People’s Welfare Minister Agung Laksono, Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan, Home Minister Gamawan Fauzi, National Police chief Gen. Sutarman and Indonesian Military chief Gen. Moeldoko as well as provincial leaders.

Meanwhile, police have named 60 suspects in 40 cases of forest fires in eight regencies and cities across Riau province during their investigations over the last four weeks.

“One of the suspects is from a company in Meranti Islands regency,” Riau Police spokesman Adj. Sr. Comr. Guntur Aryo Tejo was quoted as saying by Antara in Pekanbaru on Sunday

Aryo said 18 of the 60 suspects were arrested in relation to cases in Rokan Hilir.

He disclosed that police detained 16 suspects in Bengkalis, five suspects in Siak, five in Pelalawan, four in Dumai, three in Pekanbaru, two in Meranti Islands and three in Indragiri Hilir.

The forest and peatland fires in Riau have caused thick haze, which has blanketed the province and other adjacent provinces, such as West Sumatra, as well as neighboring countries Malaysia and Singapore.

Earlier, Agung said several Singapore-based companies were among the companies that were allegedly responsible for the fires. Singapore has officially responded to the minister’s statement, asking Agung to provide evidence.

The Riau administration has declared an emergency situation and asked the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) for assistance, including carrying out cloud seeding.

However, heavy rains have since swept across Riau and West Sumatra on Saturday, eliminating the haze and the need to conduct cloud seeding.

The deluge hit the majority of the regencies in the two provinces, including Rokan Hilir, Dumai, Rokan Hulu, Pekanbaru, Kampar, Kuantan Singingi, Indragiri Hulu and Pelalawan.

As the visibility increased on Sunday, the Sultan Syarif Kasim II International Airport in Pekanbaru resumed flight operations after being closed for several days.

“This morning, a Lion Air flight bound for Jakarta took off at 6:45 a.m,” Airport duty manager, Ibnu Hasan, said.

Similarly in Padang, the haze decreased significantly on Sunday due to the heavy rain on Saturday.

“The heavy rain in Riau and Payakumbuh and the light showers in Bukittinggi and Padangpanjang yesterday have certainly improved the situation,” coordinator for analysis and prediction at Minangkabau Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) Rendy Irawadi said.

He said the visibility in Padang reached 900 meters in the morning and increased to 1,700 meters in the afternoon.

Forestry Minister Echoes Calls for Strict Action on Haze Issue
Jakarta Globe 18 Mar 14;

Jakarta. Forestry Minister Zulkifli Hasan said on Monday that he agreed with National Police chief Gen. Sutarman and Indonesian Military chief Gen. Moeldoko who over the weekend suggested that those involved in forest fires should be gunned down.

“The instructions by the National Police chief and the chief of the military that those found burning forests should be shot on the spot are very strict. If they [suspects] resist arrest, just shoot them,” Zulkifli told reporters on Monday.

He added that aside from the actual perpetrators, those behind the illegal acts should also receive similar punishment.

“It is unfair that people are suffering, finding it difficult to breathe, and that hundreds of billions of rupiah of the state budget have been drained while business owners enjoy and watch us as we try to put out the fires.”

Zulkifli said the burning of the forests had been carried out by people looking to open up new lands for oil palm plantations, adding that he had received information that Riau has seen an additional 1 million hectares of illegal plantations in recent times.

“When the haze is over, the government will be investigating this further,” he said.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who arrived in Riau over the weekend, called for an evaluation on Monday on the punishment and penalties handed to perpetrators.

“The president is addressing the need for firm, indiscriminate action. The light punishment of perpetrators of the forest burning should be re-evaluated,” a statement on the president’s official Twitter account @SBYudhoyono read. “This crime cannot be taken lightly because it has a great impact and it causes people to suffer.”

During an assembly in Riau on Monday morning, Yudhoyono emphasized that his short-term plan was to put out the fires, while his mid- to long-term plans were to stop the issues of forest fires and haze completely.

As the first phase of these efforts, the president said he had instructed a three-week operation involving police and the military to put out the fires.

“We have to create a deterrent for those who have been causing this humanitarian disaster, which has interfered with the lives of people as well as transportation systems, closed down schools and caused other sorts of disruptions,” he said.

The president said the second phase would be prevention, set to be carried out from April through September, which is hoped to stop a similar disaster in the future.

“There are five months. Why September? Because this will be the end of my term as a leader of this nation. I want us to do as much as we can and not burden the new president,” Yudhoyono said.

In this phase, the government will seek to look into illegal plantations and stop practices of illegal logging.

“We have to have a system and a fixed procedure for a field operation that includes prevention as well as early actions to the fires,” he said. “We have to provide protection to the people. There are many innocent people who have suffered, we have to protect them, and help stop the fires. Clean the plantations without having to burn.”

Poor spatial planning

Natsir Mansyur, deputy chairman of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce, said on Monday that the annual haze issue was as a result of poor spatial planning in the country, which stems from poor coordination between related ministries, mainly involving the economy ministry.

“I am questioning the performance of Coordinating Minister for the Economy Hatta Rajasa. Hatta, apparently, is only concentrating on mining issues while he seems to ignore matters related to spatial planning,” Natsir said.

He added that Riau has continued to suffer from heavy haze over the years due to the many new companies that have cleared more land.

“Land is being cleared because there is no spatial planning” he said. “Companies that are found guilty of violating spatial planning should have their licenses revoked.”

Viator Butar-Butar, deputy chairman for economy and international partnership with the Riau branch of the Indonesian chamber of commerce, said the forest fires and haze in the region has resulted in economic losses of more than Rp 10 trillion ($885 million).

“Such losses have resulted from a decline in businesses productivity and the disruption of goods and services due to delays in land, air and sea transportation because of the haze,” Viator said.

He added that fish prices in the region have increased from Rp 20,000 to Rp 30,000 per kilogram as the haze hampered the work of local fishermen.

A report by Antaranews.com says forest fires in Riau have consistently occurred over the past 17 years without any serious preventative action by law enforcement.

According to the Riau branch of the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi), law enforcement agencies in the region have so far focused on arresting members of local communities, without going after entities behind the fires, such as corporations.

“Every year, only the individuals on ground level are prosecuted. On March 14, the Riau district police arrested 44 people accused of starting of forest fires, and only one of them was from a company active on Meranti Island,” he said.

Meanwhile in 2013, of eight companies alleged to have been behind the forest fires, only one, Adei Plantations, had been brought to the court.

Riau Governor Annas Maamun claims he has repeatedly called on the police and the local judiciary to ensure corporations involved in the fires were also taken to task, saying that he had even asked for the perpetrators to receive sanctions similar to those guilty of corruption.

“Because the act of burning forests causes equal harm to the state, the result of which can be felt by the people, especially the 6 million living in Riau. As the Riau provincial government, we are serious about handling this haze disaster,” he said, as quoted by Antaranews.com.

Meanwhile, the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) said on Monday that the haze in Riau has started to recede following rain in the area.

BNPB spokesperson Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said in a statement in Pekanbaru on Monday that rain with medium intensity had started to fall in Riau on Sunday, which helped reduced the haze.

He also said that the air-pollution index in the area has shown better air quality in almost all locations except for the Libo area, where pollution levels remained at 401 psi (pollutant standard index).

In Pekanbaru, pollution levels were reported to be at 119 psi.

Several commercial flights by Garuda Indonesia and low-cost carrier Lion Air have also resumed.

“Garuda is anticipating that its flight services may be resumed. It has therefore implemented a policy that could see flights canceled 24 hours before scheduled. If the weather is good today, the next day we will operate,” Irawan Suryadi, the station manager for Garuda in Pekanbaru said, as quoted by Antaranes.com.

Jambi police question expert witness in protected forest fire
Antara 17 Mar 14;

Jambi (ANTARA News) - The Jambi provincial police has questioned an expert witness to complete the dossiers of three people suspected of setting fire to 12 hectares of protected forest in Muarojambi district.

"A team of investigators from the Jambi provincial police has questioned an expert witness from the Jambi provincial forest office," spokesman of the provincial police Adj. Snr. Comr. Almansyah stated here on Monday.

The police will soon pass on the dossiers to the local public prosecutors office, he explained.

"We questioned the expert witness to complete the dossiers, which will soon be passed on to the public prosecutor," he elaborated.

The police had not named any new suspect in the case.

"No new suspect has been named. The number of suspects is still three," he remarked.

The police and the forestry office arrested three people on charges of setting fire to 12 hectares of protected forest in the district on March 11 at around 2 a.m. local time.

The three suspects have been identified as Novri (39), Harjo Tarmin (63), and Sutrisno (32).

During the raid the police also confiscated heavy-duty equipment including an excavator and a chainsow that is used to cut down trees.

If found guilty, the suspects can be sentenced to up to 10 years imprisonment and fined up to Rp10 billion.

(Reporting by Nanang Mairiadi/Uu.INE/KR-BSR/A014)

Editor: Priyambodo RH

Riau police names 65 suspects on deliberate land fire case
Antara 17 Mar 14;

Pekanbaru, Riau (ANTARA News) - The Riau police has named 65 suspects on deliberate land fire case that has caused severe air pollution there since few weeks, spokesman to Riau police Senior Adjunct commissioner Guntur Aryo Tejo stated on Monday.

"One of the suspects is a company PT NSP operating in Kepulauan Meranti district," Guntur stated.

According to him the police and other related officials in Special Task Force Handling Haze issue are still conducting their duties namely extinguishing the forest fires in the Riau province, providing health services for people who are affected by the thick haze from forest fire and investigating the forest fire case itself.

Up till now, about 1.6 million liters of water has been dropped over Riau province area to extinguish forest fires there, National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB)s Data Unit Chief Agus Wibowo stated here on Monday.

"The 1.6 million liters of water has been dropped 348 times using special planes like Sikorsky, Kamov and Bolcow over the past two weeks. Among the target areas are Bengkalis district, Dumai city, Kuantan Singgigi district, Indagiri Hilir district, and the border area between Riau and South Sumatra provinces," Agus explained.

Hundreds of hot spots and forest fires were reported in Riau province during the past month. The condition led to thick haze that cover most of Riau province area and caused respiratory infection among at least 55 thousand local people. The haze also reduced visibility and disturbed the air transportation there.

According to police investigations, the forest fires in Riau province were due to deliberate action by people who want to set up new plantations.

The Riau Haze Emergency Task Force has deployed 558 personnel to hunt down forest encroachers and arsonists that caused forest, plantation and peat-soil fires in Riau.

"The deployment of hundreds of personnel is mainly to strengthen legal enforcement," Chief of the Riau Police Brigadier General Condro Kirono, in his capacity as the commander of the task forces legal enforcement unit, stated.

The personnel include police officers, military officers, forest rangers and members of the intelligent agency, he pointed out.(*)

Editor: Heru

1.6 million liters water dropped over Riau to extinguish fire
Antara 17 Mar 14;

Pekanbaru, Riau (ANTARA News) - Special task force in Riau has dropped 1.6 million liters of water over the area to extinguish forest fires there, National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB)s Data Unit Chief Agus Wibowo stated here on Monday.

"The 1.6 million liters of water has been dropped 348 times using special planes like Sikorsky, Kamov and Bolcow over the past two weeks. Among the target areas are Bengkalis district, Dumai city, Kuantan Singgigi district, Indagiri Hilir district, and the border area between Riau and South Sumatra provinces," Agus explained.

Hundreds of hot spots and forest fires were reported in Riau province during the past month. The condition led to thick haze that cover most of Riau province area and caused respiratory infection among at least 55 thousand local people. The haze also reduced visibility and disturbed the air transportation there.

According to police investigations, the forest fires in Riau province were due to deliberate action by people who want to set up new plantations.

The Riau Haze Emergency Task Force has deployed 558 personnel to hunt down forest encroachers and arsonists that caused forest, plantation and peat-soil fires in Riau.

"The deployment of hundreds of personnel is mainly to strengthen legal enforcement," Chief of the Riau Police Brigadier General Condro Kirono, in his capacity as the commander of the task forces legal enforcement unit, stated.

The personnel include police officers, military officers, forest rangers and members of the intelligent agency, he pointed out.

The Riau police have detained 36 people who allegedly set fires illegally to clear land for farming and plantation.

Of the 36 detainees, 16 were encroachers of the Giam Siak Kecil-Bukit Batu biosphere reserve.

The Riau military office has also detained a military officer identified by as Chief Sergeant Sudigdo alias Digdo, who was suspected of having financed the encroachment. (*)

Editor: Heru