VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Mar. 2 - The West Kalimantan Provincial Police have named eight suspects in seven cases of forest and land fires in the province since early this year.

"We have, so far, handled seven cases of forest and land fires and apprehended eight suspects in the cases," Chief of the Public Relations Section of the West Kalimantan Provincial Police Senior Commissioner Donny Charles Go stated in Pontianak on Tuesday.

"The eight suspects are being processed," he remarked.

Donny noted that three of the eight cases of forest and land fires were found in Mempawah District, while the remaining five cases were detected in other districts.

Fire ravaged up to 14 hectares of forest and land, he stated.

Three of the suspects are from Pontianak City, one from Kubu Raya District, three from Mempawah District, and one from Kayong Utara District, he remarked.

Donny confirmed that the police was probing the likely involvement of corporations in forest and land fires. Satellite has spotted several hotspots in plantation concessions.

Meanwhile, West Kalimantan Governor Sutarmidji spoke of currently holding 57 names of owners of land that caught fire and will sanction them for deliberately setting fire to their land.

"The BPN (the National Land Agency) has sent us the names of owners of the land that caught fire, and their number currently reaches 57," he remarked

The governor also threatened to take legal action against land owners setting fire to their land. "The land will be sealed. It cannot be used for five years, and their owners will be fined," he emphasized. (Antaranews)