Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto has warned foreign countries that he will expose companies linked to forest and land burning in Indonesia, amid tensions over transboundary haze pollution.
According to Kompas.com on Thursday, Prabowo said the government would not hesitate to reveal the identities of foreign companies found to be involved in illegal forest burning.
“For certain countries that enjoy insulting the Indonesian people, the time will come when we expose their companies,” he said during a full Cabinet meeting at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta on Wednesday.
Prabowo described man-made forest fires as a form of environmental terrorism and a crime against humanity, warning that the resulting haze threatened the health of millions of Indonesians.
“Their actions endanger the health of millions of our people. We cannot take this matter lightly,” he said.
He also threatened to revoke the operating licences of companies found to have violated the law and caused forest fires.
“If the evidence is clear, we will act and revoke all licences of companies that violate the regulations,” he said.
Prabowo directed the police, prosecutors and Forestry Ministry, with assistance from the military and intelligence agencies, to conduct a thorough investigation into companies suspected of involvement in forest fires.
Indonesian police have so far named 11 companies as suspects in forest and land fire cases, including three foreign investment companies.
Prabowo’s warning comes amid tensions between Indonesia and Singapore over transboundary haze pollution.
Singapore Senior Minister K. Shanmugam had earlier expressed disappointment over remarks by an Indonesian official who claimed that Singapore also supplied oxygen to neighbouring countries when there was no haze.
Shanmugam said such remarks were inappropriate while communities across the region were suffering from the effects of air pollution caused by forest fires.
However, he welcomed efforts by Prabowo’s administration to tackle the haze crisis.
Meanwhile, Singapore has issued notification letters to seven companies suspected of being linked to forest fires in Indonesia.
The letters were issued under Singapore’s Transboundary Haze Pollution Act, urging the companies to take steps to extinguish the fires and prevent similar incidents from recurring.
Singapore’s National Environment Agency (NEA) identified the companies through hotspot monitoring, smoke movement tracking and satellite imagery.
Prabowo stressed that any action against companies implicated in the fires would be taken carefully and based on solid evidence.
