‘INDONESIA SHOULD TAKE ACTION’
It has full authority to enforce law in its territory, says minister
INDONESIA should conduct an investigation and take action against those who have violated the law with regard to the forest fires in the country, said Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change Minister Yeo Bee Yin.
She said Indonesia had full authority to enforce the law on its land.
“Malaysia has conveyed the message that we will support the country as it sees fit. We are ready if and when Indonesia accepts the offer from us,” she said after a special cabinet committee meeting on the government’s Shared Prosperity Vision yesterday.
She said Asean countries did not have a specific law on transboundary haze, therefore enforcement was based on the legislation of the respective country.
“If we can, we want to go to Indonesia to help the government put out the fire quickly. They have not asked us for assistance so far.”
Bernama reported that Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd (KLK) will cooperate with the Indonesian authorities on the investigation into forest fires on land owned by a subsidiary, PT Adei Plantation and Industry (PT Adei).
PT Adei on Friday was named by Indonesia as one of the Malaysian-linked companies being investigated as a contributor to forest fires in the Riau region.
In a statement yesterday, KLK confirmed the occurrence of a hotspot area which affected 2.8ha of the 14,400ha estate managed
by PT Adei and that it happened during an unusually acute dry spell, where rain was recorded on only two days out of the last 60.
“At present, 4.25ha, which includes an isolation area, has been sealed off for on-going investigations. PT Adei will continue to give full support to the Indonesian Environment and Forestry Ministry and all relevant authorities to assist in the ongoing investigation of the case.”
Indonesia’s Environment Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar was reported as saying at least four palm oil companies, whose land had been sealed off, were subsidiaries of Malaysian groups.
They are West Kalimantanbased Sime Indo Agro, which is a unit of Sime Darby Plantation (SDP), and Sukses Karya Sawit, a unit of IOI Corporation. Others are TDM Bhd unit Rafi Kamajaya Abadi and Riau-based Adei Plantation and Industry, a unit of KLK.
SDP has earlier disputed a foreign news agency’s report, which claimed Indonesian authorities had sealed a plantation run by its subsidiary due to hazecausing forest fires.
The company said the fires on Sept 3 occurred outside the operational area of PT Sime Indo Agro (PT SIA), which is part of Minamas Group, a wholly-owned subsidiary of SDP in Indonesia.
It said there had not been any action taken by the Indonesian authorities to seal off the operations of PT SIA up to 4pm on Sept 13.
“SDP would like to further clarify that the recent fire incident was outside the operational area of PT SIA, and in fact, it is located in lands occupied by local communities,” it said, referring to the article titled “Indonesia hits back at Malaysia over forest fires”.
Separately, IOI Corporation Bhd has refuted the accusation levelled against it by the Indonesia authorities. The Malaysian company reportedly has put in place a surveillance system and dedicated resources to put out fires within its boundaries.