Banjarmasin, S Kalimantan (ANTARA) - An alleged land burner was caught red-handed by the police in Kandangan Sub-district, South Hulu sungai (HSS), South Kalimantan.
"The person is now being intensively examined in the HSS Police's Crime Investigation Unit (Satreskrim) for burning land," Head PR of the South Kalimantan Regional Police Sr Comr (Kombes) Mochamad Rifa'i told in Banjarmasin, Saturday.
In the field, he said, the man indentified as M (29), has confessed that he ignited a fire to open a corn and bean farm.
"The area burnt down 2,000 square meter and the fire has been put out by the local police personnel," he explained.
So far, the South Kalimantan Regional Police and the ranks have probed into 16 cases of land and forest fire and have named five suspects.
"More than 50 cases of investigation all have been deepened to rise the case to name the suspects," Rifa'i revealed.
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The perpetrators of land burning are subjected to Article 187 paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code. If they committed intentionally will be threatened with a 12-year prison sentence, but if the element of negligence is found to cause a fire, they will be charged under Article 188 with a 5-year sentence.
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Meanwhile, the Regional Police Chief Insp.Gen. Yazid Fanani thanked his ranks who have done everything to carry out the direction of the National Police Chief in the context of strict enforcement and legal action against land burners.
"I ascertain the police will firmly crackdown land burners. We expect people awareness to equally care the environment. Please, no more land burning for what ever purpose, because the haze have caused very detrimental to us all," he pointed out.
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