Palangka Raya – The regional police of Central Kalimantan (Kalteng) province said that they had arrested 12 people who were found intentionally burning their land sites in the province, but none of them representing palm oil companies or forestry industry players.

“So far, we found no palm oil companies or companies involving in industrial forests which involved in burning land sites as a method of land clearing for plantation preparations,” Polda Kalteng Public Relations Head (Police) Grand Commissioner Erlan Munaji said in Palangka Raya on Saturday, 30 September 2023.

He said that the police in the province have been continually conducting routine patrols to anticipate any attempt of the people resorting to using the burning method to clear lands for plantations or other agricultural purposes, which had often resulted in forest and land fires (Karhutla).

“If we find any of them, we’ll take all necessary legal actions according to prevailing regulations. But so far, we haven’t yet found any such case that involves palm oil players or forestry industry players,” Erlan Munaji said.

According to him, the police will certainly pursue legal process against those who are found causing the forest and land fires that have caused harm to the general public, especially because the fires resulted in haze.

The arrest of the 12 perpetrators of the land burning has proven the police’s determination to help prevent the forest and land fires. “The 12 perpetrators are now detained in a number of police detention centers in Kalteng province. They are just individuals on their own, not from companies. We’ll keep updating you regarding our efforts to deal with the Karhutla,” he told the press over the weekend.

Erlan Munaji called on the general public to help the local government and the police in dealing with the problems of Karhutla which can cause the disturbing spread of smog to a number of regions outside of Kalteng province.

The haze so far has caused health problems among the people, as there are health cases of eyes and respiratory problems. “I recommend people not to leave their houses unless absolutely necessary. Otherwise, they risk their health as the current haze caused by Karhutla in Kalteng is very thick,” he said. (*)

Source: sawitku.id

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