Judges in Pontianak adjourned the first hearing to October 21 after the national government did not attend a suit over forest and land fires in West Kalimantan.
Indigenous and civil-society groups in Indonesia's West Kalimantan criticised the national government for missing the first hearing of their class action over haze, Reuters reported from Pontianak on Wednesday. Judges adjourned the case until October 21 because the government was absent.
The suit says the government was negligent in failing to prevent and respond to forest and land fires that burn every year. Plaintiff representative Yakobus said the no-show taught people that violating the law is acceptable. He said officials ignored warning signs and called for the fires to be classed as a national disaster.
The plaintiffs are the West Kalimantan chapter of the Indigenous Peoples Alliance of the Archipelago, the provincial branch of Catholic Youth, Perkumpulan Laman Punyung Indonesia, and an individual, Sisilius Rami, a court filing showed.
The presidential office did not immediately respond to Reuters. The adjournment sets the next date. It is not a ruling on liability.
No damage figure was stated in the Reuters account used here.
People Sentiments Negative
- Yakobus said the government's absence taught people that violating the law is acceptable and called for a national-disaster classification.
- The presidential office did not immediately comment.