JAKARTA, Oct 21 — Indonesia's Forestry Ministry has imposed administrative sanctions on 32 companies suspected of involvement in forest and land fires, covering a combined concession area of 1.93 million hectares.
Xinhua reported that Forestry Minister Raja Juli Antoni said today that an estimated 18,000 hectares of land within the affected concessions have been burned.
The latest measures included suspending the operations of six companies and ordering them to restore damaged ecosystems.
He added that the ministry can also pursue criminal proceedings against companies if investigations uncover evidence of legal violations.
It is handling 120 cases related to forest and land fires, with further developments expected next week.
