COMMENT | Haze: No company should be protected if they're involved

COMMENT | We, the members of G25 Malaysia, welcome Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto’s statement that decisive action will be taken against companies responsible for forest and land fires, including the revocation of permits of companies found to have violated the law.

Companies operating in Indonesia, regardless of where they originate, are subject to Indonesian law. Therefore, every company has a duty to comply with the laws of its host country and must be appropriately punished for breaking them.

No company should be shielded from the law because of its foreign ownership, economic influence or political connections.

While we welcome the president’s stance to hold the companies involved accountable, it is disappointing that it has taken so long for action to be taken.

The haze is a recurring problem with serious consequences to public health, education, livelihoods, and the environment across the region.

While foreign-owned companies may be among those responsible for the fires, the fastest path of enforcement against these companies rests with the sovereign state in which they operate.

READ MORE: Indonesian NGO identifies 21 Malaysian-linked firms in forest fires behind haze crisis

We hope this latest commitment from the Indonesian government will mark a genuine turning point, with lasting measures to ensure that the same crisis does not recur year after year.

Stronger monitoring, prevention of illegal burning and protection of forests and peatlands are essential to address the underlying causes of the fires, rather than merely their aftermath.

In this, we commend the Indonesian government’s on-going investigations into the fires and welcome their plans to continue to publicly disclose the names of the implicated companies.

Name and shame them

We hope the Indonesian government will commit to disclosing the names of both foreign and local companies responsible for forest and land fires as transparency is essential to ensuring that all companies, regardless of their country of origin, are held accountable for their actions.

Knowing which companies are involved, both in Indonesia and in countries where the companies also operate or have subsidiaries, will enable governments to take appropriate action, whether through regulatory measures, the imposition of conditions on their business operations, or other means of ensuring accountability and preventing future offences.

As the effects of transboundary haze extend beyond national borders, we hope there will be stronger cooperation among the Asean member states through timely information-sharing, effective coordination and joint preventive efforts.

Respect for national sovereignty must go hand in hand with a shared commitment to protect the health and well-being of the region’s people.

We also hope that Asean member states will take concrete action through stronger legislation, more effective prevention and enforcement, greater transparency, and adequate funding for environmental management, among other measures, to prevent the recurring haze crisis from happening again.

G25 is a group of influential Malays advocating moderation, constitutional rights, justice, and good governance in Malaysia.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.

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