Despite repeated pledges by the government that it will put an end to the massive forest fires sweeping across Riau, Kalimantan and Sumatra, which have been widely blamed on big and usually politically connected wood pulp and palm oil companies clearing land ahead of the planting season, the choking haze blanketing a large swathe of South-East A

Environmental activists say that in order to avoid legal liability for the massive forest fires sweeping across Riau, Sumatra and Kalimantan, big palm oil and wood pulp companies pay local people to start fires that conveniently spread onto their concession areas providing a cheap way to clear land ahead of the planting season.

The government and other circles have agreed to restrict the room to maneuver for non-government organisations (NGOs) that disrupt national sovereignty. Not only that, they could also face criminal charges.

These moves are linked with a black campaign against palm oil plantations taking place at the moment.

Man: They make a big fuss when there’s a disaster, after that they forget about it

1st Man: Look out, carbon emissions!

2nd Man: Look out, promise emissions!

Skull with gun: Palm oil rights!

Body: Human rights

Jakarta – Agrarian conflicts in palm oil plantation areas – followed by the criminalisation of local residents who object to these palm oil plantations – have in creased two-fold in 2010 compared with 2009.

What was supposed to be a key environmental speech from West Kalimantan Governor Cornelis in the increasingly deforested district of Kubu Raya, which is suffering from alarming levels of deforestation due to land conversion for palm oil plantations, turned to embarrassment when the occasion was repeatedly interrupted by trucks carrying freshly f

Man: Why don’t you make a meal out of him?

Sign on truck reads Illegal logging

Deforestation as a result of rampant illegal logging and conversion of rain forests for palm oil plantations is resulting in an increased frequency of human-animal conflicts – often fatal for both species.

[The following is a statement from (the temporary) National Collective of National Student League For Democracy-The Politics of The Poor (Liga Mahasiswa Nasional untuk Demokrasi-Politik Rakyat Miskin, LMND-PRM), Indonesia, about the capitalist crisis now and the solutions being taken by our government, the Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono-Jusuf Kalla re

Bagus Kurniawan, Yogyakarta – Hundreds of protesters from the Yogyakarta People’s and Worker Alliance (ARPY) held an action in the Central Java city of Yogyakarta on Thursday January 31.

Jakarta – A conflict over palm oil business interests is suspected to have been the trigger behind the armed clash between TNI (armed forces) troops and the Mobile Brigade (Brimob) in the village of Seuneubok Bace in East Aceh on Thursday November 25.