A MALAYSIAN-owned plantation company in Indonesia suspected of starting the forest fires in Riau has had its land in the province sealed by the authorities, who are also preparing to press charges, Indonesian media report.
Police alleged that PT Adei Plantation Industry, a subsidiary of Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd (KLK), had set fire to its land to clear it for planting.
Inspector-General Ronny F. Sompie said that the company allegedly conducted burning in its concession area in Riau.
“The company is responsible for the fire and has been declared a suspect but we have not determined the company’s employees who were responsible for the burning,” he told the Jakarta Post.
The Malaysian Insight is attempting to contact KLK for a response.
On June 26, the Jakarta Post published a public statement from KLK reiterating that it did not subscribe to irresponsible burning practices and that its plantation operations were in full compliance with the Asean zero burning policy.
“The purported concession area under PT Adei is mainly planted with mature palms and is at a productive stage and therefore, there are no land clearing activities for the purpose of new planting,” the statement read.
Indonesia’s Environment Minister Balthasar Kambuaya has previously said the forest fires in Riau were started by 14 companies, eight of which are Malaysian-owned. They are PT Langgam Inti Hiberida, PT Bumi Rakksa Sejati, PT Tunggal Mitra Plantation, PT Udaya Loh Dinawi as well as PT Jatim Jaya Perkasa, PT Multi Gambut Industri, PT Mustika Agro Lestari and PT Adei.
Indonesia’s Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar said action has been taken against PT Adei Plantation Industry.
“We have checked the company from Malaysia that started the fire. It (the land) was sealed on Sept 11,” she told CNN Indoneisa.
Siti Nurbaya has also ordered checks on all Malaysian and Singaporean companies whose land is burning.
The minister recently caught flak for blaming the transboundary smoke choking the region on fires in Sarawak.
Malaysian officials, including Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change Minister Yeo Bee Yin, took pains to point out to her that data from the Asean Specialised Meteorological Centre tracker showed there were 474 fires in Kalimantan and 387 in Sumatra, and just seven in Malaysia.
Malaysia has offered to help her neighbour to put out the fires. – September 13, 2019.
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