POLICE LAUNCH INVESTIGATIONS
Following Prabowo’s remarks, Indonesian police official Mohammad Irhamni told reporters on Thursday that police have launched 219 criminal investigations linked to the fires, with 162 people named as suspects so far. He added that the police were also investigating 95 companies, but he did not disclose how many of them are suspected of criminal offences.
“We in law enforcement are striving to identify the perpetrators of the burning, whether individuals or corporations, as this criminal act has already occurred and caused harm to the public,” Irhamni said.
Indonesia has deployed more than 50 aircraft to conduct water bombing and cloud seeding operations to help battle the fires.
Japan also joined Indonesia’s water bombing operations on Wednesday and Thursday. Japan sent over three CH-47 Chinook helicopters last week but poor flight conditions delayed their participation.
From January to July this year, fires raged across 202,000 hectares (almost 500,000 acres) of land, government data showed. Environmental group YKAN has estimated that fire damaged another 600,000 hectares (1.4 million acres) in August.
Forestry Minister Raja Juli Antoni warned that the wildfires could last until early November with the rainy season expected to arrive later than previously estimated.
