FIVE corporations suspected of starting forest and land fires in Indonesia, including a subsidiary of Genting Plantations Bhd, may be charged with more than negligence, Tempo.Co reports.

Indonesian National Police spokesman Inspector-General Mohammad Iqbal said the charges could multiply as the investigation progressed. 

“It’s being processed. There are things that need to be proven in an investigation, that process itself may open possibilities of (the suspects) being charged with multiple violations,” Iqbal said in the report yesterday.

He said the police would conduct an open and transparent investigation.

Tempo.Co reported on Thursday that five corporations were suspected of negligence in Indonesia’s massive forest fires belching smoke that have become a regional hazard and a cause of concern globally because of their impact on the environmental.

The five are PT Bumi Hijau Lestari in Sumatra PT Sumber Sawit Sejahtera in Riau, PT Palmindo Gemilang Kencana in Central Kalimantan, PT SAP in West Kalimantan, and PT Sepanjang Into Surya Utama in West Kalimantan.

PT Sepanjang Inti Surya Utama is a subsidiary of Malaysian plantation giant Genting Plantations Bhd.

PT Bumi Hijau Lestari has been charged with negligence because the company had employed only six workers to put out the fire that had spread across 2,500ha of land in south Sumatra.

Indonesian police public relations head Brig-Gen Dedi Prasetyo said the charge was based only on  “initial suspicion”, suggesting that more charges may follow in the course of investigations.

Police have arrested 230 people across seven provinces for burning land.

On the domestic front, weather conditions showed improvement today with not a single area exceeding the unhealthy mark as of 9am today. 

Sri Aman, which was trending in the hazardous zone yesterday with readings exceeding 400 on the air pollutant index (API), saw significant improvement this morning. As of 9am, Sri Aman’s API is 143.

Cloud seeding was carried out in Sarawak yesterday which resulted in rainfall in Kuching, Samarahan, Sri Aman, Betong, Saratok and Sarikei.

Aside from Sri Aman, the other areas with unhealthy air are Batu Muda (134), Cheras (141), Putrajaya (141), Petaling Jaya (131), Shah Alam (111), Banting (119), Nilai (140), Seremban (120), Segamat (118), Samalaju (101), Bintulu (103), Mukah (105), Sibu (123), Sarikei (131), Samarahan (149), Kuching (173) and Johan Setia (149).

All other areas in the country are seeing moderate air quality.

A reading of 0-50 indicates good air quality, followed by moderate (51-100), unhealthy (101-200), very unhealthy (201-300) and hazardous (300 and above.

Meanwhile the Asean Specialised Meteorological Centre (ASMC) said the weather in many parts of southern Asean was dry except for isolated showers in some areas north of the equator.

“Persistent clusters of hotspots with smoke haze continued to be detected in central and southern provinces of Riau, Jambi, Lampung and South Sumatra in Sumatra,” it said.

The moderate to dense smoke emanating from these hotspots will continue to affect Singapore and part of Peninsular Malaysia.

“In Kalimantan, persistent clusters of hotspots continued to be detected in South, West and Central Kalimantan. Moderate to dense smoke haze continued to emanate from these hotspots. Some of the smoke haze has spread over western Sarawak and an extensive area over the adjacent South China Sea. Isolated hotspots with smoke plumes were also observed in North Kalimantan.”

The dry spell is expected to persist over central Sumatra but there could be more rainfall in Borneo.

“The prevailing winds are forecast to gradually shift to blow from the east or southeast. Hotspots activities are expected to persist in central and southern Sumatra and parts of Kalimantan. Some parts of the southern Asean region may continue to experience hazy conditions,” it said on the weather outlook. – September 21, 2019.