REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, PALEMBANG -- The South Sumatra chapter of the Indonesian Environmental Forum (Walhi) is of the viewpoint that the government has failed to meet its haze-free commitment this year as forest and plantation fires have ravaged some provinces.
"The government's commitment to free Indonesia from haze this year has not been fulfilled. It is because the instruction of President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) is not carried out by his subordinate officials at the central and regional levels," South Sumatra's Walhi Executive Director, Hadi Jatmiko, stated here, Tuesday.
South Sumatra Governor Alex Noerdin, who had reiterated the commitment of President Jokowi, also failed to keep his province free from haze, Jatmiko noted.
The failure was the result of the inability of the central and local governments to implement law enforcement and to revoke the licenses of plantation companies that set fires for land clearing, according to the environmental NGO.
Big companies particularly are still untouched by laws. For instance, BMH plantation company in Ogan Komering Ilir (OKI) is suspected of having caused the state losses worth Rp7.9 trillion.
During President Jokowi's visit to South Sumatra Province on September 6, 2015, a hotspot existed in the location of PT RHM in Musi Banyuasin, the NGO activist remarked.
The government and law enforcers are discriminating against small farmers by holding them responsible for the haze.
In fact, based on the monitoring conducted by the NGO in August and September 2015, most hotspots were detected in 18 industrial forestry companies and 60 plantation companies located in South Sumatra.
Jatmiko expressed hope that Jokowi would personally lead law enforcement efforts and review the licenses of plantation companies that used fire for land clearing.
He also urged the president to order officials to undertake forest and land rehabilitation efforts and to close canals in peatland areas.
The government must impose law enforcement seriously and indiscriminately, he added.
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