Company with Australian connection investigated for Indonesian plantation fire

Indonesian Police has named Kayung Agro Lestari, a company with an Australian background, amongst the 42 companies they suspect are responsible for a palm oil plantation fire in Borneo, Indonesia.

Indonesia has been striving to contain the haze choking the region that was caused by the slash-and-burn technique applied by some palm oil and timber plantations. The haze has smoked up a high level of pollution in Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia.

Every year, the haze engulfs the region, including Sumatra island and a part of Borneo, but this year's haze has been worsened by the drought and El Nino.

As of Oct. 1, Indonesian police are investigating 232 cases of forest and plantation fires. Of these, 42 cases involve companies, one of which is Kayung Agro Lestari. According to Indonesian police spokesperson Agus Rianto, the company is an Australian Produce Marketing Association (PMA) company, a foreign direct investment firm, Fairfax Media reported.

But a spokesperson for Kayung Agro Lestari said it would be incorrect to refer to it as Australian since only a 0.01 percent stake in the company is owned by an Australian. The company will take best measures in the future to ensure that such forest fires can be avoided, as it also damages the plantation, he added.

The company is being investigated for a Sept. 22 fire at its concession as well. "We have called witnesses from the local community, from the company itself and experts,” Ariante said. “We don't have any conclusions at the moment because the investigation is still ongoing."

In a statement released last month, the company said that windborne sparks from fire outside the plantation area caused fire on 356 hectares of its 17,998 concession. Since Kalimantan (the Indonesian portion of the island of Borneo) was facing extremely dry climate and strong winds, it made the fire worse.

The company said it is co-ordinating with the police and the regional disaster management to quell the blazing fire and investigate what caused it. It also said that five orangutans have fled the region that caught fire and moved into the company’s conservation area.

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