BENGKALIS, INDONESIA - Firefighter Ibnu Hajar stopped near the top of a wrought-iron observation tower in Bengkalis on Indonesia's Sumatra island, and looked inland over miles of oil palm trees planted up to the edge of the northeastern coastline.Five years ago, a strong El Nino climate pattern prolonged Sumatra's main dry season beyond October, delaying rains needed to douse wildfires burning across expanses of peatland.
Research shows fire has traditionally been used in land cultivation owing to its speed, low cost and desirable side effects in reducing soil acidity and incinerating pests. Oil palm grower Muakit, with flecks of grey hair and sun blemishes from years spent working more than a dozen hectares of land here alone, recalled the blacked-out sky during the worst of the 2015 disaster.
The farmer found himself locked up with rapists and other violent offenders in a small cell of about 30 inmates and was later sentenced to eight months' imprisonment.Low-hanging fruit Environmental groups say a legal crackdown against the people and companies behind the fires has disproportionately fallen on individual farmers like Muakit.
The coronavirus pandemic has further complicated legal support this year owing to restricted prison access.Law enforcement Legal analysts say prosecutions of corporations over fires frequently run into obstacles in Indonesia's maze-like legal system, with resourceful companies dragging out cases or winning appeals in local courts.
"Companies sometimes do not want to share the information," including concession permits, maps, environmental impact assessments and field data, said Professor Bambang Hero Saharjo at Bogor Agricultural University, who frequently testifies as an expert witness for the government in fire cases.