Australian company probed over fires haze By Jewel Topsfield An Australian company is being investigated by Indonesian police over a fire on a palm oil plantation in Borneo as the republic tries to crack down on companies responsible for the haze choking the region. 
Kayung Agro Lestari, which has a palm oil plantation in Ketapang regency in West Kalimantan, is one of 42 companies being investigated over the forest fires.
The slash-and-burn technique of land clearing used by some palm oil and timber plantations is commonly blamed for starting the fires, which have created dangerous levels of air pollution in parts of Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.
The fires dog the region every year but have been exacerbated this year by El Nino and protracted drought in parts of Indonesia. Malaysia has ordered all schools to close for two days because of the thick smog and the first night of finals at swimming's World Cup in Singapore was cancelled on Saturday. Indonesian police told reporters that as of   October 1 they were investigating 232 cases of forest and plantation fires. Forty-two cases involve corporations, including two foreign investment companies - Kayung Agro Lestari (PT KAL) from Australia and PT ASP from China.
West Kalimantan police spokesperson Arianto told Fairfax Media there was fire in Kayung Agro Lestari's concession.
"Therefore we are investigating the company," he said. "We have called witnesses from the local community, from the company itself and experts. We don't have any conclusions at the moment."
In a statement late last month, Kayung Agro Lestari said that as of   September 22, 356 hectares on its 17,998 concession had caught fire. "These fires were caused by windborne sparks from fires outside our plantation area," it said. "All of these fires have been put out by our team."
The statement said Kalimantan was facing an extremely dry climate and high winds. "Together they make the plantation vulnerable to outbreaks of fire, especially from windborne sparks originating in fires outside our plantation."
Kayung Agro Lestari said it was in daily coordination with the police and regional disaster management in fighting the fires and investigating their causes.
"The most serious outbreak PT KAL has witnessed was a fire affecting a large area of land just beside our plantation.
Our team has worked together with the local authorities and communities to contain the fire. We also recorded that five orangutan fled from the fire and moved into our conservation area. As far as we can determine they are unharmed."