Hard to prevent fires due to poor land governance: Asia Pulp and Paper

Overlapping licences from other businesses issued by other parts of the Indonesian government and other factors are making it difficult to manage land concessions.
Saifulbahri Ismail, Channel NewsAsia 1 Oct 15;

JAKARTA: Asia Pulp and Paper (APP) says it will submit its reply to the Singapore government concerning forest fires on its suppliers' concession land within the deadline on Friday (Oct 2).

Last Friday (Sep 25), the country's National Environment Agency served notice on the Indonesian company, requiring it to give information on its suppliers' fire-fighting efforts. It was the first time the Transboundary Haze Pollution Act was applied since it was passed last year.

APP is a subsidiary of the Sinar Mas Group, one of Indonesia's largest conglomerates. The company and its suppliers control concessions covering more than two million hectares in Indonesia.

Even though the company has a zero burning policy, some 10,000 hectares of land in Jambi and Riau belonging to its supplier are currently on fire. APP says it has deployed about 3,000 firefighters and three helicopters to try and put out the blaze.

The firm said it does not have a specific target when exactly the fires can be put out, stressing that firefighters are working hard to douse the blaze as soon as possible. APP claims the fires did not start on its suppliers’ concession land, but once ignited, they were not able to stop the fires from encroaching into the concessions they held.

“Even though our suppliers are given licence of a concession, it doesn’t mean that we have full control of everything that happens in the concession because sometimes within that concession there is a village, there is a community claiming (land), there is overlapping licence from other business, like palm oil, or rubber, or mining, licence (that) was issued by other parts of the government,” said Aida Greenbury, managing director of sustainability at stakeholder engagement at APP.

“What is our rights, what is our obligations, what should we do, who is responsible for what, who is managing what, becomes unclear.”

Environmental activists blame this state of affairs on poor land governance.

“Lately, the government has started to try to issue some new regulations to tackle the land issue in Indonesia, to really work together with civil society to map where is the customary line, where is the local people’s line,” said Agung Wiyono, senior social specialist at The Forest Trust.

Last week, Singapore began legal action against five companies in its toughest anti-haze measure so far.

APP was one of them. It has been ordered by the Republic's National Environment Agency, under the Transboundary Haze Pollution Act, to provide information on what its suppliers are doing to fight the forest fires.

Non-governmental organisations lauded the move.

“Greenpeace has been pushing the Singaporean government a couple of years ago to also act on their companies, especially Singaporean-based companies who are responsible for what’s happening in Indonesia, because for many, many years the perception of people in Singapore is like whatever is happening in Indonesia, is just Indonesians, it has nothing to do with Singapore,” said Bustar Maitar, global head of Greenpeace’s Indonesia Forest Campaign.

APP says it welcomes Singapore’s inquiry, and sees this as an opportunity to work more closely with the country. Be that as it may, the forests of Sumatra and Kalimantan continue to burn, and parts of the region continue to be affected by a haze that is harmful to health.

- CNA/ec


Company blames haze crisis on illegal activities
Ayomi Amindoni, thejakartapost.com 1 Oct 15;

Asia Pulp and Paper (APP) rejected accusations saying that the pulp and paper company was behind the haze crisis currently affecting areas in Kalimantan and Sumatra.

APP managing director of sustainability Aida Greenbury said forest fires within concession areas did not mean that it was the company that had started the fire.

"It's illogical that we would burn the forests since we need timber for our pulp and paper industry," said Aida in a press conference on Monday.

She further explained that as a subsidiary of Sinar Mas Group, APP had not been involved in any deforestation since 2013. "That means we no longer open conserved forests for industrial timber plantations," she explained.

Aida admitted there were cases in which fires had started from within APP supplier's concession areas, primarily due to illegal slash and burn practices.

She said the majority of the fires were perpetrated by individuals who wanted to clear land cheaply and quickly for subsistence farming, agriculture and other purposes.

To prevent such activities, Aida said the supplier’s forest security team conducted daily patrols and joint operations together with local law enforcement institutions.

"During the joint patrols we found several illegal activities in Jambi and Riau in the past two months. We already reported it to the police," she said.

On the same occasion, Sinar Mas managing director Gandi Sulistiyanto said Sinar Mas and its business unit supported the government's action against forest fire offenders.

"We will cut our contract with suppliers found guilty of burning forests," he claimed.

Earlier, police investigators had named at least seven companies and 133 individuals suspected of using fires to clear land in Sumatra and Kalimantan.

They have released the acronyms of the seven companies at which the suspects worked. They are: PT BMH, PT RPP and PT RPS in South Sumatra; PT LIH in Riau; and PT GAP, PT MBA and PT ASP in Central Kalimantan.

Based on National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) data, as of 5 a.m. local time on Thursday, 492 hot spots were detected in Central Kalimantan, followed by East Kalimantan (211) and South Sumatra(168). In total, Kalimantan had 791 hot spots while 192 hot spots were found in Sumatra, kompas.com reported.

Separately, environmental group Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) is calling on all of the people affected by the haze to carry out a class action lawsuit against the government.

West Kalimantan-chapter Walhi director, Anton Widjaya, said in Jakarta on Thursday it was important for them to carry out a class action suit because the government had tended to neglect the rights of people who became the victims of smoke pollution from forest fires allegedly perpetrated by companies.

“Walhi will act as a facilitator for people who want to file lawsuits against state authorities. In West Kalimantan, we have opened seven posts to accommodate people’s aspirations,” he said as quoted by Antara news agency.

In West Kalimantan, the haze situation has affected schools and economic activities, causing health problems. The Air Pollution Standard Index (ISPU) in the province touched the level of 1,300, or four times higher than the dangerous level of 300-500. (ebf)


Walhi encourages people to file class action suit over haze disaster
Antara 1 Oct 15;

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) has encouraged haze-affected residents to file a class action suit against the government.

The class action is needed as the government tends to ignore the rights of the people affected by the haze caused by the land and forest fires, Walhi Director for West Kalimantan Anton Widjaya said at the Walhi Office in Jakarta on Thursday.

"Walhi is ready to act as a facilitator for the people filing a suit against the government. In West Kalimantan, we have opened seven command posts to accommodate the peoples aspirations," he said.

In West Kalimantan, the haze induced by land and forest fires have disrupted the local economy, learning activities, and human health.

Furthermore, the general pollution standard index once hit a level of 1,300, or four times as high as the dangerous level of 300 to 500. On average, the index reached 600 to 800.

By early October, the Walhi office in West Kalimantan will have gathered 500 identity cards from residents, who are seeking to file a class action suit against the government. "We want 1,000 residents to join the move," he said.

Meanwhile, the Walhi Office in Jambi province is also ready to coordinate with local residents to file a class action suit against the government.

"We demand that the state take legal responsibility over forest fires in Jambi," Walhi Manager for Jambi, Rudiansyah said on Thursday.

Besides filing a class action suit, the Walhi Office in Riau is also planning to refer the issue of the haze disaster, which has caused tens of thousands of people to suffer upper tract respiratory infections, to the United Nations.

Forest fires are a result of corporate crime to which the state has turned a blind eye, the Walhi Director for Riau Province, Riko Kurniawan said.(*)