Banjarbaru, S. Kalimantan (ANTARA) – The Indonesian government will soon impose severe administrative sanctions—including the suspension and revocation of business licenses—on five to six additional companies linked to ongoing forest and land fires across the country.
“There are five or six more companies whose licenses I will soon announce as being either suspended or revoked,” Forestry Minister Raja Juli Antoni said while inspecting fire response operations in Banjarbaru, South Kalimantan, on Monday.
The government has already taken law enforcement action against 26 companies for failing to meet statutory obligations regarding fire prevention and control within their concessions.
Raja Juli warned that the government will enforce regulations without exception, stressing that the fallout from land fires extends far beyond ecological destruction to direct public health risks caused by toxic haze.
“This will not stop; we will take action against any company found to be in violation, whether small or large,” he asserted, noting that strict enforcement is crucial to creating a deterrent effect among concession holders.
The crackdown follows earlier decisive action by the Forestry Ministry, which revoked the Forest Utilization Business Licenses (PBPH) of five timber and forestry companies across Kalimantan following severe fire outbreaks within their concession borders.
The penalized firms included PT Wana Lestari Jaya (West Kalimantan), PT Prima Multi Buana (South Kalimantan), PT Pancaran Wana Nusa (Central Kalimantan), PT Grace Putri Perdana (Central and West Kalimantan), and PT Babugus Wahana Lestari (Central Kalimantan).
Together, those five companies held a combined concession area of approximately 92,464 hectares, where burned areas spanned roughly 1,169 hectares.
To combat the recurring fire crisis, the Forestry Ministry is deploying a combined strategy involving ground crews, aerial water-bombing operations, public awareness campaigns against slash-and-burn land clearing, and active inter-agency enforcement.
Field operations currently unite personnel from the Indonesian Armed Forces (TNI), the National Police (Polri), the Manggala Agni specialized firefighting corps, local disaster agencies (BPBD), and community volunteers.
To prevent future outbreaks, Raja Juli added that the government plans to recruit and deploy additional forest police personnel to expand real-time surveillance across vulnerable concession areas nationwide.
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Translator: Firman, Yashinta Difa
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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