Riau DPRD Searches Company Allegedly Selling And Purchasing Mangrove Land In Meranti

Illustration. Residents bring mangrove seeds to be planted in the coastal waters of Harapan Island, Thousand Islands, DKI Jakarta, May 2021. (Between-Aditya P)

RIAU - Commission IV of the Riau DPRD in charge of the environment, ensures that there will be reports of alleged buying and selling of mangrove land with the alleged perpetrator of one company in Gogok Darussalam Village, Meranti Islands Regency. The Secretary of Commission IV of the Riau DPRD, Sugeng Pranoto, emphasized that the mangrove land in the Meranti Islands is owned by a state that cannot be managed carelessly, let alone until it is controlled by the company. "Yes, of course we will follow up on it, because it has the potential to damage the environment, and the management of mangrove land must consider many things," said Sugeng Pranoto in Pekanbaru, Riau, Friday, March 15, was confiscated by Antara. Sugeng added that this information would be the initial source for his party to carry out a deeper search, into the mangrove land. Moreover, Sugeng explained, the planting of mangroves in areas prone to abration has been encouraged by the central government. Starting from the service and the environment ministry, NGO, even up to the TNI/Polri were also involved in mangrove planting. In fact, the President of the Republic of Indonesia, Joko Widodo, also carried out mangrove planting in Bengkalis, which is a neighboring Regency of the Meranti Islands.

Di Kabupaten Kepulauan Meranti sendiri, Presiden Jokowi pernah melakukan peninjauan karhutla pada tahun 2014. Ini membuktikan bahwa Presiden Jokowi sangat memperhatikan kelestarian lingkungan di Provinsi Riau."Artinya, di satu sisi kita mau menjaga lingkungan dari abrasi, tapi di sisi lain ada pihak yang kita duga malah mau merusak alam itu. Mangrove ini jadi program presiden, jadi jangan sembarangan dalam mengalihfungsikannya," tuturnya.Dia mengungkapkan bahwa pihaknya akan melakukan kunjungan ke wilayah tersebut, untuk memastikan kebenaran informasi itu."Nanti kita akan coba lakukan kajian, kita mungkin cek ke sana langsung, lalu kita undang pihak terkait untuk datang ke DPRD Provinsi Riau, biar clear semua," pungkasnya.