Yahoo – AFP,
December 22, 2015
Jakarta (AFP) - Indonesia is punishing more than 20 companies in an unprecedented move for starting deadly forest fires that killed 19 people, a government official said Tuesday.
Indonesia is punishing more than 20 companies in an unprecedented move for starting deadly forest fires that killed 19 people (AFP Photo/Adek Berry) |
Jakarta (AFP) - Indonesia is punishing more than 20 companies in an unprecedented move for starting deadly forest fires that killed 19 people, a government official said Tuesday.
Three
companies have been shut down permanently after having their licences revoked
over their role in the blazes that choked vast expanses of southeast Asia with
acrid haze and cost Indonesia $16 billion.
It is the
first time the government has revoked company licences over forest fires, an
annual occurrence caused by slash-and-burn land clearance.
The
environment ministry also froze the operations of 14 companies and said they face
closure if they do not meet the government’s demands over fire prevention.
Several
other companies have been given a strong warning and will be put under close
supervision.
"We
have sanctioned 23 companies in total, ranging from administrative sanctions to
license revocation, while 33 others are still in the process, they could have
their licenses revoked too if they are found guilty," environment ministry
official Kemal Amas told AFP.
The
ministry has been investigating 276 companies in total since the fires broke
out in September.
"We need firmer law enforcement so that this catastrophe does not repeat itself, it’s been going on for 18 years but nobody has learnt their lesson," Amas said.
"We need firmer law enforcement so that this catastrophe does not repeat itself, it’s been going on for 18 years but nobody has learnt their lesson," Amas said.
Amas said
the ministry was also working hard to restore the forests and farmland
destroyed in the fires.
Activists
welcomed the government’s new commitment to punish firms.
The
Indonesian Forum for Environment said it was unheard of for the government to
revoke licences, as many companies previously avoided facing trial.
"The
minister has the courage to not only freeze the companies' operation but also
chase the owners in a civil case, this is great and this must be guarded
carefully," Kurniawan told AFP.
"In
the past some people were named suspects, but for them to actually lose their
licenses, this is the first time," he said.
More than
half a million people suffered acute respiratory infections in Indonesia
because of the haze, while many in neighbouring Singapore and Malaysia also
fell ill.
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