REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Refuting allegations that some palm oil companies burned their land, a palm oil sector representative said it was improbable that these companies would do so because land is part of their production facilities.
Besides, companies know well that such an act could invite heavy punishment, he added.
"With regulations being so tight, it is impossible for any palm oil company to burn its land deliberately. After all, land is part of any firm's production facilities," Eddy Martono of the Indonesian Palm Oil Companies Association (Gapksi) said here on Wednesday.
He said Gapki has branches in 12 provinces with a total cultivation area of 3.9 million hectares and 663 companies as members. The total acreage catering to palm oil sector in Indonesia is recorded at 10.9 hectares.
"This means that our members control about 35 percent of the total palm oil plantation areas in Indonesia," he said.
A total of 14 firms affiliated to Gapki have had their palm oil plantations gutted by fires. About 2,900 hectares of palm plantations and about 1,000 hectares of nuclear plantations were gutted. "Of the total burnt land, only 100 hectares had not been planted. The remaining had already been planted. Logically, companies would not have burnt their land which was going to produce wealth," he said.
Martono said palm oil companies clear the land with mechanical equipment at a cost of about Rp6 million per hectare. The money invested in opening a palm oil plantation from the beginning until harvest period is about Rp60 to Rp70 million per hectare, or about 10 percent of the total cost.
"Logically, (it is an impossible theory that some companies will burn land) because in order to save Rp6 million per hectare, no company will take such a big risk. It will face the risk of having its permit revoked and facing a fine of not only tens of billions of rupiahs but hundreds of billions of rupiahs. Is there any company willing to face such a big risk of burning land to save Rp6 million per hectare for land clearing?" he questioned.
Therefore, he called on all sides to be objective in assessing the reasons behind the land and bush fire disaster. So far, he said, the palm oil industry in Indonesia has been contributing about US$20 billion per annum. In the first semester of 2015, the industry has contributed US$9.75 billion.
"We are not going to operate if we do not have plantation business permit (IUP). Data with the Global Forest Watch on September 21, 2015 indicated that about 67 percent of land fires took place outside the concession areas while fires within the concession areas of palm oil were to the extent of 8 percent only. So, we hope that one would see this objectively," Matono stressed.
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