KLHK Seals Oil Palm Plantation Company Land At OKI South Sumatra

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Environment and Forestry (KLHK) has sealed the burning oil palm plantation owned by PT Sampoerna Agro which is located in Pedamaran District, Ogan Komering Ilir Regency, South Sumatra.

Director General of Environmental Law Enforcement of the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, Rasio Ridho Sani, said Sampoerna Agro is a palm oil plantation company with foreign Singaporean investment.

"Today we sealed the burning land at the location of PT Sampoerna Agro covering an area of 586 hectares. The sealing step must be a concern for other companies," he said in a statement quoted by ANTARA, Wednesday, October 4.

In addition to sealing Sampoerna Agro land, the Ministry of Environment and Forestry also sealed the location of an oil palm plantation owned by PT Tempirai Palm Resources because the burned land reached approximately 648 hectares.

The sealing is the first step to enforce the law that will be carried out for the incident of forest fires and peatlands that occurred at the company's location.

"The forest and land fires have a serious impact on health and the environment," he said.

He revealed that around the location that was sealed there was also a fire of around 1,030 hectares.

The Ministry of Environment and Forestry together with law enforcement officials are investigating the person in charge or the land owner because he does not have access to business rights (HGU) data.

"According to Sampoerna Agro, the location is not their HGU. We will coordinate with the Ministry of ATR/BPN who holds the HGU or the owner of the burned land. HGU data is important to find out who is in charge of forest and land fires," said Rasio.

The KLHK Supervisory Team also sealed the burning land at PT Bintang Harapan Palma which is located in Pangkalan Lampam District, Ogan Komering Ilir Regency, South Sumatra.

Based on satellite imagery, the area of land burned in Bintang Harapan Palma is approximately 5,148 hectares.

The KLHK Supervision Team again sealed PT Banyu Kahuripan Indonesia, which is located in Lalan District, Musi Banyu Asin Regency, South Sumatra, because the location was still burning. The area burned became approximately 200 hectares.

In total, there are currently 11 plantation lands reaching approximately 9,953 hectares that have been sealed in South Sumatra. The number of locations that were sealed increased compared to data at the end of September 2023, six lands were sealed with a plapse area of less than 3,315 hectares.

KLHK's Director of Administrative Supervision and Sanctions Ardy Nugroho said the number of locations to be sealed was likely to increase because his party was analyzing heat deposit data and satellite imagery.

"If we see a location on fire, we will send a team to the location," he said.

The Ministry of Environment and Forestry emphasized the use of all law enforcement instruments, starting from administrative, civil and criminal instruments to ensnare all perpetrators who caused forest and land fires in Indonesia.

It is hoped that the enforcement of integrated and layered criminal laws can increase the effectiveness of law enforcement and increase the deterrent effect.