Banjarbaru, S Kalimantan (ANTARA) – Police in Indonesia’s South Kalimantan Province have advanced cases involving four companies to the formal investigation stage over suspected forest and land fires on corporate concession areas.
The four companies are among 12 corporations under scrutiny, South Kalimantan Police Chief Inspector General Rosyanto Yudha Hermawan said in Banjarbaru on Monday.
Hermawan said law enforcement would apply equally to all parties and that anyone found responsible for starting a fire would face legal action.
The size of the burned area would not matter, he said. Anyone who deliberately set a fire or caused one through negligence would be held legally accountable.
“I have ordered all units to arrest and prosecute those responsible for setting fires to deter repeat offenses,” he said.
Police have also pursued forest and land-fire cases involving individuals, with investigations conducted by the provincial police and district police departments.
Authorities are handling 16 individual cases, 12 of which have advanced to the formal investigation stage. The remaining four are still under preliminary investigation.
Eight people have been named suspects in cases involving individuals, Hermawan added.
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Translator: Firman, Rahmad Nasution
Editor: Primayanti
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