Beyond arrests: Who is really responsible for the haze?
Smoke doesn’t stop at national borders, and accountability shouldn’t stop at the person holding the match.
The Jakarta Post reports on the complexities surrounding the haze crisis, emphasizing that prosecution alone is insufficient to address the issue. The National Police have named 138 suspects in 200 forest and land fire cases, while the Forestry Ministry has initiated legal proceedings against 21 companies responsible for fires that affected over 11,400 hectares.
However, the consequences of the haze extend far beyond legal action, impacting millions of people, including schoolchildren forced into remote learning and triggering a state of emergency in neighboring Malaysia. The haze crisis is a fundamental test of governance, highlighting the state's duty to protect its citizens from preventable harm.
It underscores the need to examine who created or profited from the risk, who failed to prevent it, and what remedies are available for the victims. Clean air is a human rights issue that demands a more comprehensive and equitable approach to addressing the root causes and consequences of the haze.
Brief written by urgent.news from The Jakarta Post's own syndicated text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
