Forest Fires and Palm Oil in Indonesia

[serious_fun]

Burn now, pay later: Fines trickle in from Indonesia’s crackdown on forest fires

Indonesian Forest Fires Crisis: Palm oil and pulp companies with largest burned land areas are going unpunished

Companies Pricing in Forest Fires to Make Way for Palm Oil in Indonesia (paywall)

 

[Bad_azz]

I think you might find that those who own these companies could quite possibly own serious players in the government too- not the faces at the front but the gears that grind from the back.

 

[pantaiema]

Another more high profile environmental disaster is Lapindo Mud Flow in Sidoarjo Regency in East Java. It started in May 2006 but you could still see the impact of it today.

Simply investigate, search it there are tons of info. Who is behind one of the largest environmental disasters in Indonesia. It is Bakrie Business Group, an Indonesian conglomerate and politician. This is how they make money, not just exploiting natural resources, but when they have caused a major environmental disasters, they could avoid a huge fine.


Bakrie Family has a close tie to the ex-Indonesian president Suharto. Also the current Indonesia Presidential Candidate PS is having a close tie to this person. How could you expect PS to fight corruption ??

Ada 'Harta Karun' di Lapindo, Apa Kabar Utang Bakrie?

Ditemukanya isu potensi 'harta karun' lapindo membuat banyak pihak bertanya soal utang Bakrie.

www.cnbcindonesia.com

Reframing the demon - Inside Indonesia: The peoples and cultures of Indonesia

A quarterly magazine on the peoples of Indonesia - cultures, politics, economy and environment

www.insideindonesia.org

https://finance.detik.com/berita-ek...ndo-belum-lunasi-utang-ke-negara-rp-2-t-lebih It's already due, Lapindo hasn't paid off its debt to the state of more than IDR 2T

https://www.cnbcindonesia.com/news/...tang-lapindo-rp-22-t-bakrie-baru-bayar-rp-5-m Due date! Lapindo owes IDR 2.2 trillion, but onlly pays IDR 5b

He only got fine of IDR773,8b. It becomes IDR2T nowadays due to all of the interest is included. Worth noticing that IDR2T is only equivalent to US$13m ((not US$13b) with such a major environmental disaster. Not even that, sofar it is only paid IDR5b (e.g US$324k).

Draw a parallel with a comparable situation involving BP (British Petroleum) and the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico on April 20, 2010. BP was required to pay over $20 billion, encompassing a $5.5 billion civil penalty as per the Clean Water Act, $8.1 billion for natural resource damages, and $5.9 billion in payments to state and local governments.

In contrast, with Indonesia, it is publicly known how people could easily escape huge fine by letting the case to go to the court, or even to the ultimate court, the supreme court and let the judges and the judges in the supreme court to decide how much to pay.

 

[pantaiema]

I think you might find that those who own these companies could quite possibly own serious players in the government too- not the faces at the front but the gears that grind from the back.

Practically almost ALL conglomerates and billionaires thrived under the Suharto regime. During his rule the capitalizing on the deforestation of ancient trees, that have been in existence for millions of years as well as other Indonesian natural resources is not uncommon. It is the fastest way to amass wealth. This include the current presidential candidate.

Prabowo Subianto - Wikipedia bahasa Indonesia, ensiklopedia bebas

id.wikipedia.org

"Mr P adalah Presiden dan CEO PT Tidar Kerinci Agung yang bergerak dalam bidang produksi minyak kelapa sawit, lalu PT Nusantara Energy yang bergerak dalam bidang migas, pertambangan, pertanian, kehutanan dan pulp, juga PT Jaladri Nusantara yang bergerak di bidang perikanan"

"Mr P is the President and CEO of PT Tidar Kerinci Agung which operates in the palm oil production sector, then PT Nusantara Energy which operates in the oil and gas, mining, agriculture, forestry and pulp sectors, also PT Jaladri Nusantara which operates in the fisheries sector"

But the primary figure in this scenario during the Suharto regime is this guy Bob Hasan (may he RIP) a close confidant of Suharto and a vocal supporter of both Suharto and the deforestation of Indonesia's rainforests.

Bob Hasan - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

A substantial portion of Bob Hasan wealth is derived from exploiting Indonesia's natural resources, which he may perceive as an inheritance from his 'engkong' (ancestors), and get blessing from then he thought the Indonesian emperor, Suharto. This exploitation includes the sale of raw wood products sourced from ancient trees such as Borneo Dipterocarpus confertus. Not to mention, Borneo teak wood, rattan, plywood, pulp and more. Rather then doing Reforestation to restore and replenish forested areas that have been exploited, it is further exploited by replacing them with palm oil and rubber plantation.

Borneo, is one of the most vital tropical forests in the world, serves as a habitat for rare species and unique ancient trees. Notably, it is the home of the world's tallest tropical tree

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/worlds-tallest-tropical-tree-discovered-climbed-borneo.

This is a research paper commissioned by WWF. listing some of the companies owned by the Indonesian conglomerates. It is written in December 2001 and mainly from the German perspective, but it is still relevant considering Germany and Europe in general were one the main exporters of forest products of Indonesia at that time, the Borneo forests has existed since millions years ago.

https://wwfeu.awsassets.panda.org/downloads/germanbankswwf011220.pdf

 

[centurion]

Practically almost ALL conglomerates and billionaires thrived under the Suharto regime.

For the record they thrive more under the present regime.
Bob Hasan, Agus Musin Dasaad, and others are dead and their business empires sunk long time ago.