Appeal Refused by The High Court of Aceh, Time for Kallista Alam to Pay Fine High Court of the Province of Aceh in Banda Aceh refused the appeal of PT. Kallista Alam in the civil case No. 50/PDT/2014/PN BNA, 15 Agustus 2014. Does the company has to immediately pay the fine of IDR 366 billion (appr. USD 30 million) for burning more than 1,000 ha of peatlands? “We have not receive the copy of the ruling, but concerning appeal to the Supreme Court, we might,” said Alfian C. Sarumaha, legal representative of PT. Kallista Alam, last week. Prior to this, Adi Dachrowi SH, one of the Aceh High Court’s judges, said on Friday (19/09/2014) that the ruling has been submitted to the District Court of Meulaboh to be forwarded to the Ministry of the Environment (MoE) and PT. Kallista Alam. “The ruling of the High Court (of Aceh) enforces the ruling of the District Court of Meulaboh on the case No. 12/Pdt.G/2012/PN MBO dated on 8 January 2014.,” said Adi. This means, the Provincial High Court of Aceh granted the lawsuit of the MoE. PT. Kallista Alam therefore has to pay fine of IDR114,303,419,000 (approx. USD 10 million) in cash to the MoE through the state account. Further, to order PT. Kallista Alam for not planting the affected area of approx. 1,000 ha based on the permit No. 525/BP2T/5322/2011 issued by the Governor of Aceh on 25 August 2011 covering 1.605 ha located in the village of Pulo Kruet, Sub-district of Darul Makmur, in Nagan Raya District. The High Court of Aceh also ordered PT. Kallista Alam to conduct environmental rehabilitation to the affected area with the amount of IDR 251,765,250,000 (approx. USD 20 millon) to restore its natural function. If PT. Kallista Alam delays the distribution of the fine, the company will be forced to pay a daily penalty of IDR 5,000,000 (approx. USD 450). Meanwhile, the District Government of Nagan Raya and Aceh Barat were ordered to conduct certain action in the monitoring and the rehabilitation of the environment. For information, PT. Kallista Alam faced a civil lawsuit filed by the MoE of clearing by burning of approx. 1,000 ha within the company’s plantation area situated in the Leuser Ecosystem during mid of July 2012. On 15 July 2014, the District Court of Meulaboh also filed sentences to a number of high rank officials of PT Kallista Alam. The director of PT. Kallista Alam, Subianto Rusyid, was sentenced for 8 months in prison, with fine of IDR 150 million (approx. USD 12,000) or extention of 3 months in prison. Subianto was sentenced due to negligence or for not being controlling his subordinates, that the company conduct illegal clearing by burning of the peatland area. This is a violation of the Article 46 Point 2 of the Law No. 18/2004. The sentence was 2 months milder than the demand of the District Prosecutor of Nagan Raya, Rahmat Nurhidayat, who asked for 10 months and fine of IDR 150 million or subsequently 3 months in prison. The Development Manager of PT. Kallista Alam, Khamidin Yoesoef, was sentence for 3 years in prison, with fine of IDR 3 billion (approx. USD 245,000) or subsequently 5 months in prison for being guilty on the clearing by burning. He was accused for having violated the Article 180 in conjunction with the Article 69 Point 1h, Article 116 Point 1a and 1b of the Law No. 32/2009 on the Protection and Management of the Environment, as well as the Article 64 Point 1 of the Criminal Law. The District Court of Meulaboh also ordered PT. Kallista Alam as a corporation to pay fine of IDR 3 billion (approx. USD 245,000). TKPRT appreciated the ruling of the High Court of Aceh The ruling of the High Court of Aceh enforcing the ruling of the District Court of Meulaboh received appreciation of the Coalition for the Protecton of Tripa (TKPRT). “This decision represented justice, we want the court to immediately execute the ruling to restore the natural function of Tripa peatland,” said TKPRT’s speaker, Fadhila Ibra, as quoted by acehterkini This ruling also enforced the effort of the Government of Aceh to restore “Tripa Peat Swamp” area within the Leuser Ecosystem. “The Government of Aceh should better cancel the Spatial Plan of Aceh in conjunction of the non-existing nomenclature of Leuser Ecosystem within the spatial plan document, but the Tripa Peat Swamp area is situated within this particular ecosystem,” concluded Fadhila.
Posted on: Tue, 30 Sep 2014 04:31:35 +0000
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