JAMBI, Indonesia: A man in Muaro Jambi regency wanted to clear his land to plant coffee, and the easiest way was to light a match and fling it into the vegetation.
When the fire spread quickly, he panicked. Then, someone called the police.
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“Based on a tip-off, we caught him red-handed and seized the evidence,” Commissioner Adjutant George Pakke, head of Muaro Jambis crime and detective unit, told CNA.
The man was among the three suspects nabbed last month by the Muaro Jambi police for setting their lands on fire, since hotspots emerged in late July.
Dominated by peatland, the regency has the highest number of hotspots in the Jambi province, with an average of 300 to 400 hotspots last month.
Air quality deteriorated as fires raged, with Muaro Jambi cast in an alarming hue of orange-red on Sep 21 due to scattering of sunlight by micro particles in the air.
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Jambi blanketed in smoke on Sep 25, 2019. (Photo: Kiki Siregar)
The Jambi province in central Sumatra is one of the six Indonesian provinces experiencing raging forest and land blazes, which sent thick, choking haze blanketing the skies last month.
According to the national disaster agency, the air pollution in Jambi was worse than the situation in 2015, when a major haze crisis sent harmful smoke across parts of Southeast Asia.
Provincial police said they have so far detained 41 smallholders and two company representatives on suspicion of starting fires.
Special crime director Grand Commissioner Thein Tabero said police were doing their best to catch the perpetrators, but it was not an easy job.
“The challenge is they (the perpetrators) throw a cigarette and then they run away … They are not dumb. They dont throw the cigarette and then wait till the fires become large,” he told CNA.
Firefighters battling a fire in a palm plantation. (Photo: Kiki Siregar)
The police also faced other challenges such as difficulty in accessing remote places and limited manpower, he added.
The police, eager to pin down the suspects, have appealed to the public to feed them accurate information. But many people affected by the annual haze have remained sceptical about the real impact of police enforcement actions.
Meanwhile, green groups and experts continue to point their fingers at palm companies and peatland owners, stressing that the blazes were caused by humans.
They are demanding stricter enforcement and stronger penalties to put an end to the problem once and for all.
READ: Indonesian forest fires putting 10 million children at risk: UN
LOCALS LAMENT ALLEGED LACK OF PUNISHMENT
Most of the burning happened at night to escape watchful eyes.
Jambi police Mr Tabero said he would not risk sending his men into the dark, when visibility is further reduced by the thick smoke.
“It is dangerous as the forests are home to wild animals, which could emerge anytime.
“Officers have to take into account the possibilities of dealing with snakes and even the Sumatran tigers, although no such case has happened so far,” he said.
A member of the Muaro Jambi's disaster agency extinguishing a fire in Muaro Jambi regency, Jambi province. (Photo: Kiki Siregar)
While swiftness of arrival at the scene is key to catch the perpetrators, Mr Pakke from the Muaro Jambi police force said the remote locations have also proven to be a challenge.
“Sometimes when we arrive at a location after a long drive, the suspects are already gone,” he said.
Mr Pakke said tip-offs from the people are really helpful in catching the culprits.
"Information such as 'next to my house there's fire', 'fire at the back of my house' or 'my neighbour is starting a fire' is useful.
“It shows that some people already have the awareness to share such information with us. They understand the danger of forest and land fires," he said.
READ: Palm oil from conserved rainforest in Indonesia's Sumatra sold to major brands, says forest group
However, while some lauded the police effort, locals said more has to be done.
“They say they have caught the perpetrators, but what happen to them, we dont know,” elementary teacher Mdm Desniwati said.
Jambi-based taxi driver Mr Amiruddin Noer wondered about the companies which own the burnt land.
“Apparently its not just individuals who set the land on fire. There are a lot of companies too, but they are untouchable by the police,” he claimed. “I dont know why the authorities cant catch them.”
A soldier washing his feet after putting out a fire in Jambi, Indonesia. (Photo: Kiki Siregar)
If convicted, those who start a fire will be fined 10 billion rupiah (US$706,600) and jailed up to 10 years.
However, Mr Rudiansyah, head of Jambis environmental group Indonesian Forum for the Environment (WALHI), said even if authorities have caught the suspects, it is not always easy to sentence them or find the real mastermind.
The challenges that hinder the sentencing process range from inadequate evidence to not having enough eyewitnesses, he added.
READ: Firefighters on frontline of Indonesias peatland blaze face uphill battle
REVOKE PERMITS OF COMPANIES WHOSE LANDS ARE ON FIRE: GREENPEACE
To curb forest and land fires, Greenpeace Indonesia suggested that the government introduce severe punishments for the culprits.
Its global head of forests campaign Mr Kiki Taufik said a recent finding showed that plantations as well as pulp and palm companies, whose lands were burned between 2015 and 2018, were not punished with serious sanctions.
“This will not deter companies from continuing the bad practice of burning forests and land.
“Therefore, we encourage the law to be enforced more seriously, such as by revoking the permits of companies whose lands are on fire.”
Peatland that has been razed by fire. (Photo: Kiki Siregar)
Mr Taufik also urged authorities to be more transparent in their investigation by announcing tRead More – Source
