TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Holding hostage a team from the environment and forestry ministry at Rokan Hulu in Riau during the past week was an insult to the law. Those responsible, and those giving the orders for a site owned by Andika Permata Sawit Lestari palm oil company, must be punished. The motive behind this illegal act must be uncovered.

The seven members of the environment ministry team were acting lawfully when they went to the location of a burned forest. Yet, they were almost prevented from returning home after visiting the location of cleared and burned forests, estimated to cover an area of almost 2,600 hectares. The illegal and forcible deletion of the photos the team had taken as evidence of the burning and the removal of notices declaring the area sealed must be seen as a form of treason against the state.

Last Monday, Peatland Restoration Agency chairman Nazir Foead was unable to enter a plantation owned by Riau Andalan Pulp and Paper on Pulau Padang, Meranti Regency. Company security personnel prevented Nazir's group from examining the burned peatland.

These two incidents were not directly linked, but they both sent the same message: In the eyes of the arsonists, the law is just a collection of powerless words. And law enforcement officers are simply people in uniform who can safely be ignored. However, the truth is that the Criminal Code contains at least five articles from Article 211 to Article 215 backing the authorities. For example, anyone who causes or provokes an attack on law enforcement officers can be jailed for up to six years.

While punishing the responsible parties, officials should also take a good look at themselves. Admittedly, law enforcement over forest and land fires is still far from ideal. There are many contradictory regulations, which make it easy for the perpetrators to avoid prosecution. These regulations can be found in the laws covering issues of forestry, plantations and that of the environment. The rules and the penalties for those who take part in setting fire to their lands land have been spread to many places.

Even the authority to deal with land burning is split between different agencies. At the center are the environment and forestry ministry as well as the National Disaster Mitigation Agency. There were also representatives of the relevant offices at the provincial and regency levels.

At the start of this year, President Joko Widodo added to the number of organizations dealing with this issue by establishing the Peatland Restoration Agency, aimed at rapidly restoring peatlands damaged by fire.

Instead of both agencies working together, however, there has been a total lack of coordination. There are also differences of interpretation between officials. Clearly, official investigations of forest burning by officials have often been at cross-purposes. For example, the Riau Police recently halted an investigation into the case of land burning by fifteen companies, saying there was insufficient evidence. However, the environment ministry has used an article on negligence to take the case to court.

There is an urgent need for a simplification of these organizations. Additionally, cooperation between ministries and departments must be improved. The government must not be intimidated by empty threats of lower revenues for the state if the burning were stopped. Such scare tactics must be stopped.