Police Ensure 2 Land Burners Leading To Forest And Land Fires In Pulang Pisau Central Kalimantan Are Legally Processed

Illustration. Karhutla on the side of the toll gate Rambutan Toll Road Trans Sumatra (JTTS) Palembang-Indralaya section in Ogan Ilir, South Sumatra, Thursday 14 September. (ANTARA-Nova Wahyudi)

The police confirmed that the two perpetrators of the land burners with the initials N (65) and P (66) at Pulang Pisau, Central Kalimantan (Central Kalimantan), were being prosecuted. The burning of the land caused forest and land fires (karhutla) and thick smoke amid the emergency response status of forest and land fires. "The number of hotspots that cause forest and land fires to a large scale in the local district can be ascertained at 99 percent due to intentional or human negligence," said Deputy Chief of Police Pulang Pisau Kompol Edia Sutaata at the Pulang Pisau Police yard, Central Kalimantan, Friday, October 13, confiscated by Antara. Edia said the forest and land fires that occurred in Central Kahayan District, Greater Jakarta, Kahayan Hilir, spread to a point in Sebangau Kuala District, Pulau Pisau. Many lands burned, including in them community-owned gardens.

The legal process that will be faced by N and P is expected to serve as a reminder for the community not to clean the land by burning. According to Edia, the practice of burning to clean land in the midst of the emergency response status of forest and land fires in Central Kalimantan cannot be tolerated. Previously, perpetrator N was detained by the police after causing forest and land fires in Gohong Village on August 22, 2023. Meanwhile, perpetrator P was arrested on October 11, 2023, which was the cause of forest and land fires in Hanjak Maju Village. The forest and land fires caused by the two perpetrators spread to a wider area. "The strict action imposed by the Resort Police against the two perpetrators is expected to be an example so that other people do not follow," he explained. Edia said the police had also secured evidence from the two perpetrators in the form of matches and traces of charcoal from a burning tree. Against the two perpetrators, the police charged Article 187-188 of the Criminal Code with a penalty of five years in prison, because the perpetrators were cooperative and elderly, the local police did not make arrests but the law enforcement process continued until they waited for the trial.