Indonesia cracks down on firms behind forest fire smog

The Indonesian government has punished 23 companies for causing forest fires that spread thick, smoky haze around Southeast Asia, an official said yesterday.

Brotestes Panjaitan, the forestry ministry’s investigations director, said 33 more companies are under scrutiny and waiting for decisions on possible punishment.

Forestry minister Siti Nurbaya announced on Monday that a total of 56 companies were involved in the land-clearing activities that led to the fires.

She added 23 of them, mostly pulp wood and palm oil plantations operating on Sumatra and Borneo islands, have received punishments ranging from administrative sanctions to revocation of licenses.

Three companies shut down as their licenses were revoked, Nurbaya said, while the licenses of 16 were suspended and four companies were placed under close observation.

“We do not hesitate to take stern legal actions against companies found violating the law,” said Panjaitan.

“We are now considering the kinds of sentences for the remaining 33 companies.”

Forest fires have been an annual problem in Indonesia since the mid-1990s, but this year’s was the worst since 1997 when blazes spread across nearly 10 million hectares.

The fires have created an ecological disaster, health problems and economic losses — 2.1 million hectares (8,063 square miles) of land burned, 21 deaths and more than half a million people suffering respiratory problems.

The World Bank has estimated that Indonesia’s economy has lost $16 billion due to the fires, more than double what was spent on rebuilding Aceh province after the 2004 tsunami.

National police chief Badrodin Haiti said police were processing 301 cases of forest fires set by individuals and corporations, with three of them having been handed to the attorney general’s office for further legal proceedings.