Singaporean Companies Allegedly Involved in Forest Fires
23 September 2015 09:02 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Muhammad Yunus, director for law enforcement at the Environment and Forestry Ministry, said there are three Singaporean companies that are allegedly involved in forest burning. The information came from satellite data combined with the Forestry Ministry’s data.
“We haven’t checked the situation on the ground. We will conduct a groundcheck later,” he told Tempo on Tuesday.
Yunus said the involvement of the companies that are located in Central Kalimantan is still an allegation. After Eid al-Adha celebration, Yunus targets his team to have departed to the location. He said the Singaporean company is one of the 147 entities that are being monitored by the team.
The Environment and Forestry Ministry has penalized four companies indicated of burning forests. Three of the four companies, which are PT Tempirai Palm Resources, PT Waringin Argo Jaya and PT Langgap Inti Hibrindo, are suspended, while PT Hutani Solalestari’s license is revoked through Ministerial Decree No. S840/1999 because the burned areas are more than 500 hectares.
Hendroyono, the ministry’s secretary-general, said those companies must accept the decision and punishment. “The companies must also apologize to the people and state the commitment to protect the environment,” he said.
ALI HIDAYAT
