House Leaders Wear Masks During Plenary Meeting

Jakarta (Antara Bali) - Several leaders of the House of Representatives wore masks during a plenary meeting on Friday as a show of solidarity with the victims of the haze disaster.  

"Let us wear masks as a form of solidarity for the haze victims," House of Representatives' deputy speaker Taufik Kurniawan stated here on Friday.  

In addition, Kurniawan urged all lawmakers to conduct a prayer for rains after the Friday prayer in a bid to solve the haze crisis in the country.

However, wearing masks during the meeting was criticized by several members of the House of Representatives who urged the House leaders to take them off.

Nevertheless, the House leaders comprising Setya Novanto, Taufik Kurniawan, Agus Hermanto, Fahri Hamzah, and Fadli Zon continued to wear their masks.

Meanwhile, the House leaders wore masks while singing the national anthem, Indonesia Raya.

"It is not allowed to sing the national anthem while wearing a mask. We should openly sing Indonesia's national anthem," a legislator affirmed.

The police had earlier questioned 253 parties accused of burning forest and land areas, causing haze in various regions in Indonesia.

"The legal process (into the role) of the 253 parties, including individuals and corporations, is still ongoing," National Police Chief General Badrodin Haiti noted at a regional police's roll call in connection with its readiness for the December regional elections at the Mobile Brigade headquarters here.

Haiti claimed to have found the parties who were allegedly the perpetrators of forest and land fires.

Based on investigations, the police have been able to name the suspects behind the disaster that has elicited international concern.

"Some have been named suspects. In some cases, the judicial process has been completed, and some other cases are still in the initial stage," he remarked.

The parties have been charged with allegedly violating Law Number 22 of 2009 on environment management and protection.

When questioned about their names being made public, the police chief said he was still weighing its pros and cons as economic and social issues were involved.

Badrodin said besides enforcing the law, the government had also made maximum efforts to extinguish the fires, including through water bombing operations and preventing people from burning forests as well as by building canals to stop the fires in peatland areas. (WDY)