Local palm oil companies with operations in Indonesia have been accused of contributing to the haze problem by allowing open burning on their land

by SHAHEERA AZNAM SHAH/ pic by BERNAMA

MALAYSIAN officials are expected to meet officers from Indonesia next month to discuss issues related to the oil palm industry including allegations that the sector was one of the contributors to forest fires and the ongoing transboundary haze.

Primary Industries Minister Teresa Kok (picture) said the delegation will include representatives from the ministry and plantation companies from both countries.

“We are hoping to get the owners of (Indonesian) plantation companies as well as Malaysian plantation owners to come together and discuss various issues related to the industry,” she said at the 39th Palm Oil Familiarisation Programme in Putrajaya yesterday.

Local palm oil companies with operations in Indonesia have been accused of contributing to the haze problem by allowing open burning on their land. The haze problem engulfing Malaysia and Indonesia is among the worst in recent years.

Hundreds of schools were closed last week as worries over health implications due to the smog heightened.

Thousands of hotspots, largely in Indonesia had been identified and Jakarta had deployed thousands of people to put out the fires.

Malaysia had offered to assist Jakarta to fight the haze.

Kok said it is unfair to blame the oil palm industry over the haze fiasco as majority of the palm oil producers adhere to strict agriculture requirements imposed on them.

“The plantation companies are subscribing to the Roundtable Sustainable Palm Oil and Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil. So, they are practising good agricultural conducts and they definitely would not conduct open burning.

“We must be fair and factor in the efforts by the Indonesian government to put out the fires.

“It is unfair for the public to keep pointing their fingers at the oil palm industry because it is a forest fire. We know many crops are planted in peat soil areas and peat soil can catch fire easily,” she said.

She said reports of four Malaysian companies highlighted by Indonesia and the penalty they would face if found guilty, could only be assessed after the official findings of the investigation are released to the public.

“Maybe they are involved, but we have to wait for the investigation report from Indonesia. We have to remember the lands in Indonesia are not all cultivated by palm oil smallholders. It could be by others,” she said.

Indonesia’s Environment Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar said in an interview with Reuters that some of the forest fires were started on the land owned by subsidiaries of Malaysian companies.

She named the subsidiaries as PT Sime Indo Agro — a unit of Sime Darby Plantation Bhd; PT Sukses Karya Sawit — a unit of IOI Corp Bhd; Rafi Kamajaya Abadi PT — a unit of TDM Bhd; and Riau-based PT Adei Plantation and Industry — a unit of Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd (KLK).

KLK and TDM have confirmed that their land plot in Indonesia was affected by the forest fire and those areas had been sealed off. IOI Corp and Sime Darby Plantation had denied that their plantations were shut by the Indonesian government.

Prime Mininter Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said that the government is mulling on a law that obliges companies to manage the forest fires on their estates.

Yesterday, 57 schools in Kuala Langat and the Klang district involving 68,025 students were ordered to close after the Air Pollutant Index readings broke the 200-point level on Sunday.

The Federal Territory Education Department said all 296 schools in Kuala Lumpur that were closed since last Thursday had resumed classes yesterday.