Ecobiz.asia – Indonesia’s Environment Minister Moh Jumhur Hidayat has discussed forest and land fires with his Singaporean counterpart Grace Fu, stressing that both countries must respect each other’s sovereignty as they pursue environmental law enforcement related to fires and transboundary haze.
Jumhur said Fu had informed him that Singapore was preparing environmental regulations to strengthen law enforcement in the country. He said Indonesia respected the legal processes undertaken by each government.
“Minister Grace Fu said Singapore is preparing environmental regulations as part of its law enforcement efforts. We respect the sovereignty of each country,” Jumhur said, according to a statement issued by Indonesia’s Ministry of Environment and Environmental Control Agency (KLH/BPLH) on Monday (Nov. 2).
The communication comes as Singapore steps up scrutiny of companies linked to forest and land fires in Indonesia that have contributed to transboundary haze. On Oct. 28, Singapore said it was examining 10 companies registered in the city-state that operate in the palm oil or forestry sectors and have concessions in Indonesia or links to concession holders.
Singapore’s Senior Minister and Coordinating Minister for National Security K. Shanmugam stressed that the process was still at the fact-finding stage and did not mean the companies had been found to have violated the law. The companies were asked to provide information on their corporate relationships, concession locations and fire prevention and suppression measures. Singapore has also said it plans to strengthen its Transboundary Haze Pollution Act, including by making failure to cooperate with appointed assessors a separate offence.
Against this backdrop, Indonesia is conducting field verification of fires in the concession areas of 335 companies. Jumhur said investigators were examining each affected location to establish the extent and causes of the fires before determining responsibility.
“Every burned area must be verified one by one. Some fires affected two hectares, others five hectares, while several covered hundreds of hectares. We need to establish the conditions and causes of the fires at each location,” he said.
The ministry has found varying fire patterns, including on undeveloped land and in oil palm plantations. Jumhur said some fires appeared to have been caused by human activities, including uncontrolled land clearing by communities in areas where access was relatively open. Such fires could spread beyond the original plots and cause wider damage.
He also disclosed intelligence information suggesting that some fires may have been deliberately set to damage the government’s image. However, he said the allegation was still being investigated and required further verification.
“There is intelligence information that we are examining, suggesting that certain parties deliberately set fires to damage the government’s image. If that is true, it would be a very serious act. But this information must still be verified,” he said.
Jumhur said the ministry would pursue action against concession holders or other parties found responsible, but cautioned against assigning blame before the investigations were complete.
“We cannot determine who is guilty before the verification process is finished. This is a legal matter. It would be problematic to impose penalties without first establishing the facts and evidence on the ground,” he said.
The investigation covers fires of varying sizes across the 335 company concession areas. The ministry said the findings would be used as the basis for further enforcement measures. ***
