JAKARTA - Chairman of the Indonesian House of Representatives, Puan Maharani, highlighted the land and forest fires (Karhutla) that began to occur again in several parts of Indonesia. He also emphasized that the arrest of 44 suspects in the burning of peatlands by the Police in the first half of this year was an important step in law enforcement.
However, Puan stated that law enforcement is not enough to overcome the problem of peatland fires that occur every year and cause broad social and environmental impacts.
"The fire of peatland or forest and land fires not only damages the vital ecosystem for carbon absorption and climate control, but also threatens public health," said Puan in her statement, Tuesday, July 29.
"Handling of forest and land fires or burning peatlands must be based on social justice and sustainable governance so that this problem does not repeat every year," he continued.
Puan then highlighted that the majority of the perpetrators arrested were small farmers and local communities who often became victims of the inequality of the agrarian system. Meanwhile, on the other hand, land clearing permits by large corporations in peat areas often escape the supervision and enforcement of the law.
"This injustice must be stopped. We must find out who the main actors behind this fire are and what concrete steps are taken to take to take action against perpetrators who often burn as land clearing methods," said Puan.
As a solution, the former Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Culture encourages the handling of peatland fires not only to focus on taking action against individuals involved. According to Puan, handling forest and land fires also needs to be done through more inclusive and social justice reforms.
"The government needs to strengthen the fire early detection system, audit corporate permits thoroughly, and implement burn-free commodity certification to protect Indonesia's export reputation and encourage environmentally friendly industries," he explained.
Puan said the affected communities also needed to be involved to find solutions to peatland fires.
"The state must ensure that the affected residents are not only victims, but also part of the solution. They must be involved in sustainable development," concluded Puan.
As is known, the Ministry of Environment (KLH) reported data on fires in Riau as many as 790 hotspots detected with 27 active hotspots or increased sharply with the area of burned land soaring from 546 hectares to nearly 1,000 hectares in just the last 24 hours.
Data from the Ministry of Health also noted that more than half a million cases of ARI occurred due to smog that interfered with the quality of life and education of children in Sumatra and Kalimantan.
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The National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) also stated that 44 people had been named as suspects, because they were suspected of deliberately burning mineral and peatlands in Riau Province from January to July 2025.
The determination of dozens of suspects was based on the action taken by the Law Enforcement Task Force on 35 incidents reported.
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