Menhut Withdraws 2 PBPH Following the Death of Two Elephants in Bengkulu

JAKARTA - Minister of Forestry (Menhut) Raja Juli Antoni officially revoked two Forest Utilization Working Agreements (PBPH) following the death of two elephants in the Seblat area, Bengkulu.

"It was found that two elephants had died. Therefore, I will revoke the PBPH PT API (Anugerah Pratama Inspirasi) and PT BAT (Bentara Alam Timber)," said the Minister of Finance as reported by ANTARA, Thursday, May 7.

"At the same time, I have ordered Gakkum (the Ministry of Finance Law Enforcement Office) to continue the existing criminal indications, so that it does not only end with administrative revocation but also to criminal," he added.

Raja Antoni said his party had evaluated the activities of the two companies. According to him, the government had previously given the companies the obligation to restore the ecosystem, but the obligation was not carried out optimally.

"We have decided that two companies, PT BAT and PT API, to carry out the obligation to restore the ecosystem, evaluated, it turns out that it was not done," he said.

Raja Antoni said the government also found various other violations in the company's concession area. Violations include indications of illegal logging to illegal palm oil planting within the area that should be restored.

"What is certain is that these two companies do not carry out the proper use or governance. This includes illegal logging and illegal palm oil cultivation. We have started to master it by revoking the palm oil planted, but their obligation to carry out restoration has not been answered, so I ordered it to be revoked," he explained.

Further regarding the exact cause of death of the two elephants, Menhut explained the process of necropsy (necropsy) in the laboratory in Bogor before it was officially announced to the public.

"In that context, now it is being necropsy, looking for what the cause is. Now it has been in the Bogor laboratory, later we will announce what the cause is," he said.

Menhut also said the government made a Presidential Instruction (Inpres) regarding the rescue of the population and habitat of Sumatran and Borneo elephants. This, he said, proves President Prabowo's seriousness in handling and saving elephants.

In addition, another effort is to unite elephant pockets, involving the community and activists, to a permanent solution related to problems in Way Kambas National Park with the construction of a barrier.

"This shows the very strong commitment of President Prabowo Subianto to save the Sumatran and Borneo elephant population, especially now that it is entering the endangered phase," he said.