Sinar Mas Subsidiary Gets Light Sentence in Forest Fire
1 September 2016 20:08 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Palembang - The High Court Palembang, South Sumatra declared Bumi Mekar Hijau (BMH), a company owned by Sinar Mas Group, responsible for the forest fire at its 20,000 hectares of concessions in Komering Ogan Ilir in 2014.
The Court fined BMH Rp78.5 billion, which is only one percent of the amount demanded by the plaintiff, in this case, the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, which is Rp7.8 trillion.
"We are not happy with the court's ruling because it does not compare to damages caused to the environment," WALHI South Sumatra director Hadi Jatmiko said on Thursday, September 1, 2016.
He added that the ruling does not have a deterrent effect to BMH, who for the past 5 years have had their concession areas on fire.
Meanwhile, BMH and their lawyers refused to say how they address the verdict because they have not received a full copy of the appeal decision. But company spokesman Iwan Setiawan said he believes the judges made their decisions based on all principles.
PARLIZA HENDRAWAN
