Indonesia names over 200 people, nine firms as suspects over forest fires as transboundary haze worsens

JAKARTA: Indonesian police have named more than 200 people and nine companies as suspects in forest and land fire cases across the country, as authorities intensify enforcement and firefighting operations to tackle the worsening haze crisis that has affected the region.  

The National Police said on Wednesday (Oct 14) that the 223 people were named as suspects in connection with 273 police reports. These cases involved a combined burned land area of over 5,150 hectares, said Senior Commissioner Pipit Subiyanto from the Directorate of Energy Resources and Environmental Crimes. 

He was speaking at a press conference with the Coordinating Ministry for Political and Security Affairs held in Jakarta, according to a statement by Indonesia’s Government Communication Agency (BAKOM). 

Riau recorded the highest number of suspects at 65, followed by South Sumatra with 48 and Central Kalimantan with 39. The rest are from West Kalimantan, East Kalimantan, Jambi, South Kalimantan, North Kalimantan, Southeast Sulawesi and South Sulawesi. 

Additionally, police have also named nine companies as suspects in connection with the fires, with a over 25,600 hectares of land burned linked to these corporate cases. 

Authorities said enforcement efforts undertaken by the National Police and relevant ministries have “progressed significantly”, with 57 business entities “sealed off” after they were found to have committed violations related to forest and land fires.

They however did not provide details on the nature of violations or offences. 

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Forestry is currently pursuing criminal proceedings against 17 corporations, while another 26 have received administrative sanctions. It is not known what these entail. 

SEVERING THE “FIRE HEAD” 

Separately, the government is strengthening its strategy for handling forest and land fires by severing the "fire head”, which is the leading edge of the blaze, using heavy machinery and by constructing borewells to accelerate extinguishing efforts and prevent the fire from spreading further. 

According to Forestry Minister Raja Juli Antoni, this strategy targets the primary point of the fire's advance rather than simply chasing the flames as they spread. 

In addition to using heavy machinery, the government also plans to construct approximately 30 borewells to support firefighting efforts in high-risk areas. A borewell is a narrow, deep shaft drilled into the earth to tap into underground water sources. 

These borewells will be spaced about 50m apart along the fire head to ensure a reliable water supply at the fire site. 

Raja Juli emphasised that the government is also optimising various measures to control forest and land fires, including through weather modification operations.

"Regardless of whether a regency is currently experiencing fires, we proceed with cloud seeding, dispersing salt into potential clouds, to increase moisture levels," he said. 

Meanwhile, Ristianto Pribadi, head of the public relations at the Ministry of Forestry, said that the Indonesian government is paying special attention to forest and land fires in Tanjung Puting National Park to prevent them from spreading and to protect wildlife habitats.

Tanjung Puting in Central Kalimantan is the world’s largest conservation and rehabilitation centre for orangutans.

Authorities on Monday said that more than 500 hectares of the national park had been affected by the fire but firefighting efforts have been hampered by “extremely poor visibility”. 

Indonesia’s Ministry of Forestry has deployed 117 personnel from the park’s agency to tackle the fires, on top of 10 additional personnel from Karimunjawa National Park and Mount Halimun Salak National Park. 

MALAYSIA, INDONESIA BEGIN TALKS TO JOINTLY TACKLE FIRES 

The latest comments from the Indonesian authorities come as Malaysia said that the two countries have “for the first time” begun discussions to explore ways of working together to tackle forest fires in Kalimantan and Sumatra. 

Malaysia’s Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan said the discussions involved relevant agencies and ministries from both countries, including the National Disaster Management Agency (NADMA), the Foreign Ministry and the National Security Council (NSC). 

“The form of cooperation will depend on the outcome of the discussions, but the authorities of both countries have, for the first time, begun talks on how we can work together to tackle the haze, which appears to be getting worse," Hasan told reporters on Wednesday, as quoted by state news agency Bernama. 

He noted that the transboundary haze caused by the forest fires had persisted for nearly two months, affecting Malaysia as well as the health of those in neighbouring Indonesia and Singapore.