Palm oil companies are suspected of illegally starting widespread forest fires in Indonesia in order to clear land for palm oil plantations, Indonesian officials say. The fires have caused record levels of hazardous smog in neighboring Singapore since Wednesday.
Reuters U.K. reported Friday that the destructive blazes on the island of Sumatra had been "deliberately set." Indonesian officials said eight companies were responsible for the fires, and more are likely to be named on Saturday, per Reuters.
"Since the fires are happening mostly on plantation lands, we believe there are plantation companies involved," Indonesia's National Disaster Management Agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said, according to The Times of India. "The president has already put together a team to investigate who owns the plantations." Full story
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