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Indonesia's highest court fines M'sian company RM60m over forest fires
Indonesia’s Supreme Court upheld the RM60 million fine against PT Rambang Agro Jaya, a subsidiary of Malaysian company Kulim Berhad, guilty of causing forest fires in the country.
The court’s rejection of PT Rambang’s appeal was announced on the court registrar’s website last Friday.
Indonesia’s Supreme Court upheld the RM60 million fine against PT Rambang Agro Jaya, a subsidiary of Malaysian company Kulim Berhad, guilty of causing forest fires in the country.
The court’s rejection of PT Rambang’s appeal was announced on the court registrar’s website last Friday.
The case against the oil palm plantation was brought by Indonesia’s Environment and Forestry Ministry, which investigated PT Rambang for forest and land fires recurring every year in Ogan Komering Ilir, South Sumatra.
A court spokesperson, Andi Samsan Nganro, said the decision issued last Tuesday (Aug 23) was based on an application by the Environment and Forestry Ministry.
He said the Supreme Court found PT Rambang to be “clearly committing an act against the law” in reference to the annual forest fires across 500ha of land.
“On that basis, the court rejected the appeal,” he said in a statement.
The Supreme Court upheld the Appellate Court’s decision to increase fines to RM60 million.
It was reported in Indonesian media that the decision to increase the fines from RM41.3 million to RM60 million was based on costs which included ecological damages, economic loss, costs for revegetation, and costs of repairing hydrological systems on peatlands.
According to its website, Kulim Berhad was listed on the main board of the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange in 1975. It became a wholly-owned subsidiary of JCorp (Johor Corporation) before delisting in 2016.
Kulim Berhad describes itself as a Malaysian company that engages in oil palm plantation, investment holding and property investment businesses in the country.
Boasting 89 years of industry experience, Kulim Berhad has a landbank of 63,158ha across Malaysia and Indonesia mapped out on its portal.
In Indonesia, its only other subsidiary is PT Tempirai Palm Resources, also located in South Sumatra.
Its chairperson and non-independent director since May this year is former chief secretary of the government Ismail Bakar, who served from 2018 to 2019.
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