[Kabar-indonesia] Govt to sue firms over forest fires [+Victims hope aid comes before rain]

[Joyo at aol.com]

also: Victims hope aid comes before rain

The Jakarta Post 
Saturday, September 2, 2006

Govt to sue firms over forest fires

Tb. Arie Rukmantara, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The government plans to sue three oil palm plantation firms and one oil palm 
entrepreneur for allegedly starting fires in their concessions that grew into 
massive forest fires in Riau province.

The State Ministry for the Environment identified the companies Friday as PT 
Subur Arum Makmur, PT Riau Andalan Sentosa and PT Agro Sarimas Indonesia. The 
individual is identified as Deden.

"We will file criminal and civil lawsuits. We're compiling their offenses 
now," said Hoetomo, the state ministry's deputy for environmental law enforcement.

The country's environment, forestry and plantation laws, as well as its 
criminal code, ban burning land to clear it. The offense carries a maximum penalty 
of 15 years in prison and billions of rupiah in fines.

The ministry is probing three other companies, including State Plantation V, 
which manages oil palm, rubber and cacao plantations in Sumatra. It is also 
investigating two firms in Kalminantan, PT Mitra Aneka Rezeki and PT Wilmar 
Sambas Plantation, as well as a foreign investment firm referred to only as PT BCP.

"As for BCP, we're currently investigating the owner's country of origin," 
Hoetomo said.

Masnellyarti Hilman, deputy minister for environmental management, said the 
government decided to sue the companies because fire "hot spots" had been 
occurring in their concessions since last year and nothing had been done about it.

She said she believed the legal actions would deter other companies.

"Satellite images show that most of the fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan occur 
in concessions belonging to logging and plantation firms," she added.

Ministry data shows that from June to August this year, more than 53 percent 
of the 6,734 hot spots in Sumatra have occurred on the concessions of logging, 
industrial timber estate and plantation firms. Hot spots are places that 
produce enough heat to trigger satellite sensors, but not all of them are fires.

More than 65 percent of the 5,705 hot spots in Indonesia's part of Borneo 
also took place on business properties.

Masnellyarti said the ministry would seek compensation for environmental 
losses, such as the loss of biodiversity and the degradation of the forests' 
ability to absorb carbon emissions, which is vital to halting global warming.

Greenomics Indonesia has estimated that forest fires and haze are costing the 
government, the public and the private sector more than Rp 227 billion 
(almost US$25 million) a day in deforestation, damage to health and other effects.

State Minister for the Environment Rachmat Witoelar said the lawsuit would 
aim to prove that the country's rampant forest fires were intentional rather 
than natural.

"We also want to show that we're not only targeting small-scale farmers or 
nomadic farmers, but also big players," he said.

The companies' executives could not be reached for comment and are not listed 
in the country's trade and industry directory, the Sumatra or Borneo yellow 
pages, or with the province's 108 information operator.

Derom Bangun, the executive chairman of the Indonesian Association of Palm 
Oil Producers, said these companies might affect the image of the country's oil 
palm industry, but his organization fully supported the ministry's move to 
enforce the law. 

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The Jakarta Post 
Saturday, September 2, 2006

Victims hope aid comes before rain

Slamet Susanto, The Jakarta Post, Bantul

Kliwon hopes the rainy season doesn't come early -- his house is still in 
ruins following the May 27 earthquake and he has not received any money from the 
provincial government to build a new one.

"I have nothing to rebuild my house with. It is difficult enough just to put 
food on the table," said the resident of Sindet hamlet in Bantul, Yogyakarta.

The 35-year-old father of one said he had sold his wife's land, which she 
inherited from her parents, to build a 28-square-meter house in 1998.

The house was leveled by the devastating quake that hit towns across 
Yogyakarta and Central Java, killing around 5,800 people and leaving 200,000 homeless.

"I don't have anything else to sell now, and I don't know if I will be able 
to get a house. Hopefully the government will keep its promise, so we can have 
a home again," Kliwon said.

His family is now living in a shack made out of materials salvaged from the 
damaged house.

"The shack leaks when it rains because I don't have the money to buy 
corrugated iron sheets or tiles for the roof. I use rags or whatever is available to 
shade us from the scorching sun," he said.

Kliwon currently depends on handouts to support the family. "I worked as a 
farm hand recently, but now I depend solely on assistance, because there are no 
jobs going," he said.

A resident of Wonolele village in Bantul, Hadi Nuryanto, 51, told The Jakarta 
Post that quake survivors were tired of hearing empty promises from the 
provincial government. It initially pledged between Rp 10 million and Rp 30 million 
in payouts for families to reconstruct damaged houses, based on the scale of 
the damage.

"They keep promising, but what we need is a house," Hadi said.

He and other survivors said the money should have been divided equally among 
quake victims.

"If it (the assistance) is in the form of (finished) houses, I'm sure it will 
take a long time and most of the money will be misappropriated. Residents 
will die of diseases in the rainy season before they get a house," he said.

Villagers only needed between Rp 4 million and Rp 5 million each to build a 
new home, he said, because some materials salvaged from their old homes could 
be reused, he said.

"We will work together to build the houses since we share a common fate," 
Hadi said.

"The fasting month is approaching, and we just want simple houses," he added.

The slow disbursement of funds to families has sparked a number of protests 
as villagers' anger and frustration boil over.

Three months after the disaster, many people are still waiting for government 
aid, including the promised monthly living allowance of Rp 90,000 a person 
for three consecutive months, the Rp 100,000 monthly allowance per person for 
clothing, the Rp 100,000 lump sum for kitchen items and the money for housing 
reconstruction.

Administration assistant for the people's empowerment, Mulyanto said the 
funds would now be distributed in bulk to groups of 10 to 15 family members.

"We have estimated that Rp 15 million will be used for each house in the 
construction stage. We will distribute the funds through the groups. The sooner 
they form the groups, the sooner we will disburse the funds," he said.

They reconstruction money should be used to build the foundations, frameworks 
and roofs of houses, he said.

Mulyanto said that the initial reconstruction fund of Rp 749 billion could 
only build 47,000 houses, while more than 206,000 homes had been destroyed in 
the quake.

"The reconstruction process is being carried out in stages."

Yogyakarta Governor Sultan Hamengkubuwono X said the money should be used to 
build houses that were quake-proof. 

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Joyo Indonesia News Service
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