Former Indonesian trade minister Muhammad Lutfi has hit back at Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman over the Muar MP’s call to treat Indonesia as an “outcast” in Asean over the recurring transboundary haze.
Lutfi said the haze was not an opportunity for political grandstanding, and that Indonesian firefighters had died battling the blazes while hundreds of thousands of Indonesians were breathing in the smoke.
He argued that Malaysian companies operating plantations in Indonesia must also be held responsible for the crisis, claiming Malaysian plantation groups controlled up to 3.4 million hectares of land in the country while some financed their operations through Malaysian banks.
“Hold every rogue corporation accountable, whether Indonesian or Malaysian. But never insult an entire nation that gave your industries the land and licences to thrive,” he said on Instagram.
Lutfi said while the US previously banned imports from Malaysian palm oil producers FGV Holdings and Sime Darby Plantation over allegedly forced labour, Indonesia had refrained from condemning Malaysia as a nation.
“Did Indonesia call the entire nation of Malaysia an outcast because of that? Never.”
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