TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesian National Police (Polri) spokesman Inspector General Mohammad Iqbal said that the five corporations suspected to be responsible for a number of land and forest fires will not only be charged with negligence.

"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," said Iqbal on Friday, September 20, 2019.

The Police promised that they will be open and transparent in handling the investigation, and will study the series of legal procedures in the massive land and forest fire case.

Police named PT Bumi Hijau Lestari together with one of the firm's directors as a suspect in the South Sumatra forest fire, as confirmed by National Police's Head of Public Relations Brig. Gen. Dedi Prasetyo on Thursday, September 19, 2019.

"AK, operational director of PT Bumi Hijau Lestari," Dedi said. AK is identified as Alvaro Khadafi

Alvaro and PT Bumi Hijau Lestari is charged with negligence in preventing the fires because the company only employed six people to put off the fire that has spread across 2,500 hectares of land.

"That is the initial suspicion," said Dedi.

Other corporations suspected of negligence in the massive forest fires are; PT Sumber Sawit Sejahtera in Riau, PT Palmindo Gemilang Kencana in Central Kalimantan, PT SAP in West Kalimantan, and PT Sepanjang Inti Surya Utama (PT SISU) in West Kalimantan.

ANDITA RAHMA