Pekanbaru, Antara – Police announced two directors of PT National Sago Prima, as suspects for allegedly burning lands and forests in Meranti island, Riau province, on Tuesday (7/10).
“One suspect is the president director and the other one is the general manager. After a thorough investigation, we declared them as suspect,” said deputy special crime force, Arie Rahman Nafarin, in Pekanbaru.
Nafarin said that the president director, A, representing the company and E, as PT National Sago Prima general manager. They are charged for their negligence causing forest fires and smoke pollution in February 2014. The files have been submitted to the Riau High Court but returned to be completed by the police. “We are still completing these documents,” he said.
The police charged the suspects with the 2009 Law on Environmental Protection and Management for five years prison time and Rp 1.5 billion (US$ 123,203) of fine. In addition, they will also be charged with the 1999 Law on Forestry with ten years maximum in prison and Rp 1.5 billlion and the 2013 on Prevention and Eradication of Forest Destruction with eight to 20 years jail time and Rp50 billion (US$ 4 million).
On March, Riau Police had declared PT National Sago Prima as the suspect over 2,000 hectares land fires of its concession in Tebing Tinggi Timur, Meranti islands. They are also being investigated for illegal logging, environmental pollution and destruction for blocking rivers in the concession areas. However, the police can only collect initial evidence for land forests. “We don’t have enough evident for other chargers,” he said.
During 2014, Riau police have announced 200 suspects for forest and environmental crimes, most of them involved in forest and land fires. Only one company have been indicted in the case, while others are individuals.