Balikpapan. Police in East Kalimantan province have handled 37 cases of forest and land fires this year, with 12 people named as suspects, authorities said Saturday.

The cases involved a combined 494.14 hectares of forest and land, according to the East Kalimantan Police.

Of the 37 cases recorded through Aug. 30, 25 remain under investigation, while 12 have moved to the formal investigation stage, East Kalimantan Police spokesman Tedy said at police headquarters in Balikpapan on Saturday.

"The East Kalimantan Police's special crimes directorate, together with district and municipal police, has handled 37 alleged criminal cases involving forest and land fires," Tedy said.

The 12 suspects are being handled by several police units. Two suspects are being investigated by Samarinda Police, two by East Kutai Police, three by Kutai Kartanegara Police, four by Berau Police and one by Balikpapan Police.

Most of the suspects are individuals, although some of the burned areas were located on land owned by corporations, police said.

Authorities said most of the fires were caused by land clearing activities that involved burning vegetation, a practice that has contributed to the emergence of new fire hotspots across several parts of the province.

Forest and land fires continue to occur in East Kalimantan despite firefighting efforts by joint teams involving the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), Manggala Agni forest-fire crews, the military and police, as well as volunteers.

Police said they would continue prosecuting those responsible for deliberately burning forests and land to prevent fires from spreading further.

Add as a preferred source on Google +