Indonesia: Malaysian firm fined, executives get prison for role in forest fires

Hasyim Widhiarto, The Jakarta Post 11 Sep 14;

A Malaysian manager at plantation firm PT ADEI Plantation and Industry, a unit of Malaysia’s Kuala Lumpur Kepong Berhad, was found guilty on Tuesday of causing forest fires in Riau last year that led to haze choking neighboring Singapore and Malaysia.

The Pelalawan District Court in Riau sentenced ADEI general manager Danesuvaran KR Singam to a year in prison and the option of paying Rp 2 billion (US$168,800) or serving an additional two months in jail for violating Article 99 (1) of the 2009 Environmental Protection and Management Law.

“The defendant was negligent in his supervisory role of the estate. He should have actively prevented irresponsible parties from slipping into the estate and setting the fires,” presiding judge Donovan Pendapotan said.

Danesuvaran, however, was not sent directly to prison after the hearing. “We need to wait for a final and binding verdict from the Supreme Court before sending the defendant to prison,” said prosecutor Banu Laksmana, adding that the prosecutors would appeal the sentence.

The court found ADEI guilty of violating the same article in the 2009 law and handed down a Rp 1.5 billion fine or see its director, Tan Kei Yoong, serve five months in jail. The court also ordered ADEI to pay an additional Rp 15.1 billion to repair the environmental damage caused by the forest fires.

Between June and August last year, the slash-and-burn fires on plantations in Riau and some parts of Kalimantan triggered severe haze that blanketed Singapore and some parts of Malaysia, as well as areas of Indonesia near the blaze.

In response to the subsequent diplomatic uproar, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono apologized to the neighboring countries.

The incident also served as a catalyst for Singaporean legislators to pass a law in August that allows the city state to prosecute local and foreign firms involved in illegal forest burning that leads to severe air pollution. The law was also a response to Indonesia’s lack of action in preventing a repeat of the problem.

Despite the verdict, the law-enforcement monitoring deputy at the Presidential Working Unit for the Supervision and Management of Development (UKP4), Mas Achmad Santosa, argued it was not enough as the sentence was deemed too light.

Mas Achmad said the judges’ lack of appreciation of the ecological crisis was the reason behind such a light punishment.

“The sentences are too light and fail to provide a deterrent effect. They do not reflect the court’s sense of crisis about the impact of land and forest fires on our environment,” Mas Achmad said on Tuesday.

However, he praised the court for holding the company and its top officials to account in the case.

“Cases related to land and forest fires usually end up in the arrest of field operators only. But by applying the corporate criminal liability approach [as in this case], the functional perpetrators, such as the business executives or the corporation itself, can now be punished,” he said.

The Indonesian Forum for the Environment’s (Walhi) Riau chapter executive director, Riko Kurniawan, meanwhile, suggested the court speed up its deliberations in the future. “These two cases took around seven months. Law-enforcement officials should wrap up future forest-fire cases faster if they really want to show their commitment to protecting the environment,” he said.

Malaysian jailed over forest fires
The Star 12 Sep 14;

PETALING JAYA: A Malaysian has been slapped with a year’s jail for causing forest fires in Indonesia which led to the severe haze in Malaysia and Singapore.

The Jakarta Post reported that Danesuvaran KR Singam, who is a general manager at the plantation firm PT ADEI Plantation and Industry, a unit of Malaysia’s Kuala Lumpur Kepong Berhad, was found guilty by the Pelalawan district court in Riau for violating Article 99(1) of the 2009 Environmental Protection and Management Law.

He was also fined two billion rupiah (RM539,507.36), for the offence.

Judge Donovan Pendapotan said Danesuvaran was negligent in his supervisory role of the estate and that he should have actively prevented irresponsible parties from slipping into the estate and setting the fires.

The court also fined ADEI 1.5 billion rupiah (RM404,814) for violating the same law or see the firm’s director, Tan Kei Yoong sentenced to five months in prison.

Prosecutor Banu Laksmana said Danesuvaran would, however, not be sent to jail immediately as they needed to wait for a final and binding verdict from the Supreme Court.

“We will be appealing the sentence,” Banu was reported saying.

The sentences have been deemed too light by some, including the law enforcement monitoring deputy at the Presidential Working Unit for the Supervision and Management of Development, Mas Achmad Santosa.

“The sentences are too light and fail to provide a deterrent effect. They do not reflect the court’s sense of crisis about the impact of land and forest fires on our environment,” Mas Achmad was quoted saying.

He, however, praised the court for finding the company and its top officials accountable in the case, as it was usually the low level operators who were punished.

The Indonesian Forum for the Environment’s Riau chapter executive director Riko Kurniawan however, urged for quicker resolution to future forest fire cases, saying that the two cases had taken seven months.

Singapore and parts of Malaysia and Indonesia were blanketed by thick smoke as a result of slash and burn fires on plantations in Riau and Kalimantan between June and August last year.

Following that, Singapore passed a law that allows the city state to prosecute local and foreign firms involved in illegal forest burning that leads to severe air pollution.

Riau court jails and fines Malaysian plantation manager over forest fires
The Star 12 Sep 14;

SINGAPORE: A district court in Riau sentenced a Malaysian plantation firm manager to one year in jail and fined him 2 billion rupiah (RM539,492) on Tuesday for neglecting to prevent forest fires on his company's estate in June last year.

The Pelalawan court also fined his company ADEI Plantation, a subsidiary of Kuala Lumpur Kepong (KLK), 1.5 billion rupiah (RM404,619) and ordered it to pay 15.1 billion rupiah (RM4,073,160) to repair the environmental damage.

"The defendant was negligent in his supervisory role over the estate. He should have actively prevented irresponsible parties from slipping into the estate and setting the fires," presiding judge Donovan Kusumo Bhuwono said.

The judgment comes as the Indonesian authorities appear keen to signal they are acting on environmental offences after receiving flak from local residents, environmental groups and neighbouring countries over last year's haze.

Prosecutors had also sought a five-year sentence for the manager Danesuvaran K.R. Singam, 52. Both he and the prosecution plan to appeal against the verdict before a higher court.

Rafles Panjaitan, director for forest fire control at the Forestry Ministry, told The Straits Times: "We have been stepping up efforts to enforce the laws. The President (Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono) has ordered police, attorneys, ministries and state agencies to act faster."

He noted that more individuals have been arrested for illegal burning over the past year. KLK had previously said it did not carry out irresponsible burning practices.

In 2001, ADEI's head C. Gobi was sentenced to two years in prison for using fire to clear land, although this was lowered to eight months on appeal.

Uncontrolled forest fires in Riau sent pollutant levels to record highs in neighbouring countries in June last year, prompting Susilo to apologise for the haze and order swift action to stop the fires.

However, green groups say that lenient sentences remain a weak link in the effort to stop illegal burning. - The Singapore Straits Times/ANN