Government Plans to Sue Asia Pulp and Paper Over Forest Fires
Maps and Media Reports
11 July 2004
provided byWWF Indonesia
Background
The Riau Government is preparing to charge at least ten companies for setting forest fires within
their managed forest areas in mid 2003 [Kompas 28 and 29 June 2004, and Riau Pos 29 June
2004, see below).
Two of the 10 companies, PT. Arara Abadi and PT. Mapala Rabda, belong to Sinar Mas
Group Forestry, a sister company and supplier to the Asia Pulp and Paper Co. Ltd (APP).
Two additional companies are pulp wood suppliers to APP, PT. Hamidah Hamidi and PT.
Sri Buana Damai.
Mapala Rabda has been in the news recently for other illegal activities. On 8 June 2004, WWFIndonesia reported that independent wood supply auditor LEI had found Mapala Rabda to haveillegally logged inside the Bukit Batu Wildlife Reserve [WWF. 2004. Legality of Timber
Consumed by Asia Pulp and Paper’s Mills in Indonesia: January – October 2003.]
The upcoming law suit covers illegal activities by the above mentioned companies associatedwith Asia Pulp and Paper Co. Ltd. in mid 2003. It appears that the situation has not changed in2004. The map below shows forest fire hotspots (red fire symbols) during the period 20 to 26
June 2004, mapped from satellite images by the Japan International Cooperation Agency funded
Forest Fire Prevention Management Project (FFPMP). Several hot spots are clearly insideconcessions belonging to or associated with the Sinar Mas Group and APP (purple boundary).

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Map. Forest fire hot spots recorded from satellite images by JICA funded FFPMP.

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Media Reports
Riau Provincial Government Charging Companies Responsible For Forest Fire Rp. 2Trillion: 119 witnesses were asked for clarification
Kompas, 28 June 2004
After months have passed without proper processing of the lawsuits on forest fire cases in theProvince, the Riau Provincial Government is finally preparing to fine by Rp. 2 trillion, 10plantation and industrial timber companies accused of starting fires within their managed
industrial timber forest areas in mid 2003.
The dense smoke from the fires paralyzed economic activities and caused a health hazard.
The fines will be adjusted according to the results of an investigation into the fires by the One
Roof Team which consists of the Environment Ministry, the Indonesian Police and the Attorney
General. The investigation has taken evidence from 119 witnesses.
As a result of their investigations over recent weeks, the Riau Police Department last Saturday(26/6) detained a PT. AU director with the initials ADS, and accused him of being involved insetting fires in over 2,000 ha. The resulting haze caused an annoyance to the local population andalso to the neighboring country, Malaysia.
Interviewed in Pekanbaru, the head of the Riau Environmental Impact Management Agency,
Khairul Zainal, confirmed that his institution had prepared a law suit against 10 companies
accused of deliberately setting fires that caused devastating haze over Riau in mid 2003.
The ten forestry and plantation companies accused of setting fires are PT. Arara Abadi (the mainsupplier to Indah Kiat Pulp and Paper/IKPP), PT. Hamidah Hamidi, PT. Guntung Hasrat
Makmur, PT. Alam Sari Lestari, PT. Sri Buana Damai, PT.Multi Gambut Industri, PT. Mapala
Rabda, PT. Eka Dura Indonesia, PT. Jatim Jaya Perkasa and PT. Selaras Abadi Utama.
Khairul said that the preparation of the law suit against the 10 companies is being carried out
cooperatively by a joint team from the Riau Provincial Government, including the Riau
Environmental Impact Management Agency, the One Roof Team from the Environment
Ministry, Indonesia Police Headquarters and the Attorney General.
Zainal Abidin, the sole investigator from the Environment Ministry involved in the joint team,said that his institution had interviewed 119 witnesses involved in land and forest fire cases
carried out by companies in Riau province.
They (the accused) are charged under Law number 23 year 1997 on Environment Management,
especially for corporations, said Zainal.
The law suit against the companies that damaged the environment has been made possible
because the haze had brought about significant negative impacts in the region.

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Walhi Adoption
M. Teguh Surya, Deputy Director of Walhi Riau, said that the Riau Provincial Government coulduse the similar papers that had been prepared by Walhi to sue 32 companies that were found tohave set fires in Riau in mid 2003.
The law suit was cancelled after the 7th trial on November 8, 2003 at Pekanbaru court when thepanel of judges ruled that the law suit was not addressed appropriately.
“The Riau Provincial Government can adopt our law suit since it will make their job easier.
Although it was rejected by the Pekanbaru judges, the materials have been completely finished,”
said Teguh.
Out of the 32 companies that were sued by Walhi, 7 of them are included in the list of companies
being charged by the Riau Provincial Government. The other 3 were never sued by Walhi.
Rain Falls
The head of the Pekanbaru Meteorology and Geophysics Agency, Johannes Drajat, said that therain which fell last Friday was unable to extinguish the hotspots that flared up in Pekanbaru andthe surrounding areas. This was due to the fact that the rain fell only in Pekanbaru and in someareas in the western part of West Sumatra, while the hotspots are located in the southern andnorthern parts of Pekanbaru. Moreover, the rainfall was too light to extinguish the existing
hotspots.
The haze that has been shrouding Pekanbaru meant that the visibility in the town was reduced toonly 300 meters last Saturday morning. Meanwhile, the air pollution index in the town iscategorized as high, meaning that the air is not healthy, because the air contains small particles(particulate matter 10 micro meter/ PM 10).

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Thousands of masks distributed, hotspots emerge
Kompas, 29 June 2004
The head of the Riau Environmental Impact Management Agency, Khairul Zainal, said that hisinstitution can confirm that more companies will be included in the list of companies that will becharged by the Riau Provincial Government together with the One Roof team from theEnvironment Ministry, and Indonesian Police Headquarters. This is because the team is stillgathering some evidence directly in the field.
“It is possible that the number of companies will be more than 10, but we still cannot reveal theexact numbers since the investigation process is still going on. 2 or 4 more companies may beadded,” Khairul said.
The offer from Walhi to use the law suit papers that they have compiled was welcomed warmlyby Khairul. Support from community groups will help the law suit against the companies thathave set fires in Riau.
In response to this, Walhi’s Deputy Director, M. Teguh Surya, said that his organization believes
that support from the Riau Provincial Government to uncover the land fire cases is not justpoliteness.
“We proposed that legal action should be taken against 32 companies that had set fires thatcaused the haze that shrouded Riau in mid 2003, however, lack of support from the Governor ofRiau at the time meant we had to work by ourselves to sue those companies in the Pekanbaru
court”, Teguh added.
Meanwhile, according to observations in Pekanbaru, the haze that covers the town has thinned
significantly.

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It is hard to take action against those setting the fires
Riau Pos, 29 June 2004
The Riau Provincial Government expects that the process of law for the 10 companies accused ofdamaging forest and land in Riau can begin as soon as possible.
The law suit is still being prepared, but hopefully it will be finished soon so that the case can bebrought to court. In preparing the law suit, convincing evidence is needed as well as hard work.
According to Latif, the head of the Law Bureau of the Riau Provincial Government Secretariat,
this kind of case can seem technically easy but to prove it may be more difficult. If we do nothave strong evidence when the case is brought to court, the case may be lost.
Meanwhile, the investigation into the PT AU director with the initials ADS, arrested after thejoint team discovered the company had cleared some 800ha of land in Minas Sub-District, SiakDistrict, is still going on.

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