Indonesia to crack down on palm-oil companies burning land
Indonesia’s Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar has warned that palm-oil companies found responsible for clearing land through illegal burning – cloaking much of Southeast Asia in noxious haze each year – will be prosecuted. “If we let this carry on and don’t resolve it, then Indonesia will remain like this,” she said. As reported by The Wall Street Journal, Bakar also condemned attempts to halt an investigation by dozens of men suspected of being hired by the company, PT Andika Permata Sawit Lestari. Last week, a team of seven officials investigating wildfires in Sumatra’s Riau province were detained and threatened with death.
