"The president has emphasized the importance of strict and indiscriminate legal enforcement. Light punishment for forest arson must be evaluated," the president tweeted on his account @SBYudhoyono on Monday.
He also wrote that forest arson should not be seen just as an ordinary crime because it has huge impacts and caused sufferings to many people.
On Sunday, the head of state held a meeting with local officials and plantation companies managers in Riau. In the meeting, he stressed that the annual forest, plantation and peat-soil fires in the province must be stopped permanently.
He elaborated that the companies should contribute their corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds to buy heavy equipment needed to clear land that could be used by local farmers.
Yudhoyono added that the central government in cooperation with the local administration has been doing serious efforts to put out the fires and developed roads throughout Riau.
Earlier, President Yudhoyono stated that fighting fires is not a solution to the question of forest and plantation fires in Riau province.
"The solution to fundamental problems is not just fighting. We must find the solution so the problems will not continue like this every year," the President stated on the yard of the Riau governors official residence here on Sunday morning.
Fighting fires will never solve the cause of land fires, which were deliberately set by irresponsible persons, he noted.
In a short dialog with Riau Governor Annas Maamun, Chief of the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) Syamsul Maarif, Minister/State Secretary Sudi Silalahi, Home Minister Gamawan Fauzi, and Coordinating Minister for Peoples Welfare Agung Laksono, the President emphasized that he wanted to get first-hand information from local residents affected by haze caused by forest and plantation fires.
"I want to hear what the local residents have looked at and heard of. This way we may hear what has really happened. Dont bring them to us but we must visit them," he explained.
President Yudhoyono arrived at Roesmin Nurjadin Airport in Pekanbaru on Saturday evening after a stopover in Batam due to low visibility in the Riau provincial capital.
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