KUCHING: A Malaysian company is among 200 firms currently being investigated by Indonesian authorities in connection with the open burning that has led to chocking haze in parts of Malaysia and Singapore. Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Dato Sri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said the investigation would take some time.
“The authorities need to establish whether these companies were directly involved with the open burning or merely giving the contract to other parties for land clearing,” he told reporters after launching the Majlis Ibadah Qurban Perdana 2015 yesterday.
“A few companies have been suspended thus far and this goes to show that the Indonesian government has taken positive measures to counter this situation.” Wan Junaidi did not rule out the possibility of smallholders, operating in land allocated to them by plantation owners, opting for the slash-and-burn method due to a lack of expertise to clear land.
He said as forest fires in Kalimantan could last till the end of next month, the state’s southern region would continue to experience haze within these next few days due to the changing wind patterns. Apart from Kuching, Kota Samarahan, Serian and Sri Aman divisions, he noted that Tawau, Sabah has also been affected by haze.
On a related note, he said satellite imagery detected two hotspots in Sarawak on Thursday, with open burning believed to have occurred in plantation areas in Bintulu and Kuching.
“The state government will look into this matter. They will need to probe whether the plantation owners possess the permit to conduct their open burning. Otherwise, the Department of Environment (DOE) will take action,” he said.
Wan Junaidi added the Natural Resources and Environment Board (NREB) had revoked all issued permits between January and July because of poor air quality in the southern region.
On Tuesday, it was reported that four companies in Indonesia had their operations suspended, three palm oil plantation firms had their permits frozen and one forestry company had its license revoked.
All of the companies are Indonesian. A Singapore-owned company is also under investigation.
Penalties include suspension of operations, revocation of land permits and jail time.
Meanwhile, a Bernama report from Jakarta yesterday quoted The Association of Plantation Investors of Malaysia in Indonesia (APIMI) as confirming that none of the Malaysian plantation companies operating in Indonesia were involved in open burning activities.
APIMI’s chief representative Nor Hazlan Abdul Mutalib said, to the contrary, all Malaysian plantation companies practiced zero burning in field clearing work.
He said the practice of burning forests and cultivated areas for any purpose was an offence in Indonesia and all members of APIMI complied with the laws on operating plantations at all times.
“Most of the Malaysian plantation companies are also members of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), an organisation which issues certification on the export of palm oil to Europe, and one of the conditions for obtaining RSPO certification is no open burning practices,” he told Bernama.
He said the RSPO was very firm on environmental issues and would revoke a certificate of recognition from any member who was found guilty of burning activities at oil palm estates.
Nor Hazlan said if there were cases of open burning in plantations owned by Malaysians, they were actually carried out by the local people who lived in the area.
Nor Hazlan said, perhaps many people were not aware that one of the conditions of investing in oil palm plantations in Indonesia was that the investment company was obliged to set aside as 20 per cent of the platation area for the locals. He said those living as squatters there could not be transferred by the government, and they in turn conducted their own farming activities as well as open burning.
“If seen from satellite data, it certainly looks like the fires are in plantation areas owned by Malaysian investors, but it is not the oil palm plantations, it is the area of plantations managed by the local people.” He said the matter had to be explained to the authorities every year, since the fires occurred yearly, especially during the dry season. He added there was also misinterpretation of ‘Malaysian-owned’ companies, that is when a company had a manager who is a Malaysian, there were those who claimed it was a Malaysian company.
“The manager only works at a locally owned company, and if the company is involved in open burning, they claim it is the work of a Malaysian-owned firm.”
Nor Hazlan said the claim that a company owned by Malaysian investors was recently found guilty of open burning was also incorrect, because the company had long been sold to a local businessman. He said, as a commitment to anti-open burning, he also represented APIMI to sit on the Task Force established by the Indonesian government to address the issue.
“We also organise fire drills and have collaborated with the local fire brigades to provide education on the adverse effects of open burning to the locals.” Meanwhile, Malaysian Ambassador to Indonesia Datuk Seri Zahrain Mohamed Hashim said the Indonesian government should act decisively to enforce the law against any agricultural company involved in open burning. He said the important thing now was to act decisively and quickly, regardless of who owned the companies involved. “This haze matter should be resolved in a more comprehensive manner and not only taking into account if the company is Malaysian or Singaporean, because this has become a serious case which is at a critical level, and it occurs every year.” He said that the embassy constantly monitored and provided information to the Malaysian government, and even helped find ways to overcome the haze problem.
The issue of forest fires in Indonesia is an annual phenomenon, and it has caused serious haze, that affects the health and daily activities of Malaysians.
There are certain parties in Indonesia which often allege that Malaysian-and Singaporean-owned plantation companies perform forest burning activities for re-farming purposes.
Recently, President Joko Widodo had directed to revoke the licences of irresponsible plantation operators.
He said that forest fires had resulted in huge losses to the government, and so far the government had identified seven companies involved in such acts. He, however, did not mention the names of the companies nor their owners.