28 Forest Area Violators Sent to Bareskrim for Legal Process

Deputy for Enforcement of Environmental Law (Gakkum) KLH/BPLH Rizal Rawan (left) ANTARA/Lintang Budiyanti Prameswari

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Environment (KLH) / Environmental Control Agency (BPLH) stated that the enforcement of criminal law (gakkum) of 28 companies that violated the use of forest areas was handed over to the Criminal Investigation Unit of the National Police.

The Deputy for Enforcement of Environmental Law (Gakkum) KLH/BPLH Rizal Rawan conveyed this to follow up on President Prabowo Subianto's decision to revoke the permits of 28 companies that caused the flood disaster in Sumatra.

"So the enforcement of criminal law will be carried out by the Criminal Investigation Unit, we will not enter that realm because we are all in coordination with the Forest Area Regulation Task Force (Satgas PKH). We have divided tasks in coordination with the task force, for our special field in the non-criminal field," said the ANTARA court, Wednesday, January 21.

He explained that the continuation of civil legal proceedings on companies that violate environmental permits and forest area utilization provisions also continues.

"The continuation of civil cases will certainly continue, so all lines are run, whether it is administrative, criminal, civil sanctions, all roads," he said.

Based on the findings of experts who were deployed to handle the disaster in Sumatra, environmental damage was found due to activities in 28 companies that had been revoked.

"Yesterday, experts from the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), then from the Bogor Agricultural Institute (IPB) that we involved, found that there were allegations of environmental damage due to activities in these companies," he said.

President Prabowo Subianto has revoked the permits of 28 companies that have been proven to have violated the use of forest areas.

Secretary of State Prasetyo Hadi at a Government press conference revoked the Forest Utilization Permit (PBPH) at the Presidential Office, Jakarta, Tuesday (20/1), said President Prabowo made the decision in a limited meeting held online from London, England, Monday (19/1).

"The President has decided to revoke the permits of 28 companies that have been proven to have violated the law," he said.

He said in the meeting, the Forest Area Regulation Task Force (Satgas PKH) reported the results of investigations and audits of companies suspected of violating, especially in disaster-affected areas, such as Aceh, North Sumatra, and West Sumatra.

Of the 28 companies, 22 companies are holders of the Forest Utilization Business Permit (PBPH) for Natural Forests and Plant Forests with a total area of 1,010,592 hectares, and six other companies are engaged in the mining, plantation and utilization of wood forest products (PBPHHK) sectors.