Indonesia Suspends 26 Corporate Permits over Forest Fires - Tempo.co English
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Forestry Minister Raja Juli Antoni stated that his ministry has suspended the operational permits of 26 companies in connection with land and forest fires.
Raja Juli explained that the permit suspensions is part of enforcement measures spearheaded by the Directorate General of Forestry Law Enforcement (Gakkum Kehutanan). This involves administrative sanctions that may be paired with mandatory environmental restoration and can escalate to criminal prosecution if evidence of unlawful acts emerges.
"In our Gakkum unit at the Ministry of Forestry, we have frozen the business permits of 26 corporate entities," said Raja Juli after a working meeting with Commission IV of the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR) in Jakarta on Wednesday.
He noted that regulatory action against non-compliant firms extends beyond permit freezes to include environmental restoration mechanisms.
"First is the suspension of business permits. Second is mandatory environmental restoration. They must restore the affected environments under legal compulsion, and third, if there are indications of corporate criminality, we will pursue criminal proceedings in coordination with the police," he said.
Regarding the legal status of the affected permits, Raja Juli emphasized that the ministry classifies the measure as an administrative sanction taking the form of a business permit suspension.
"There's a term for it: an administrative sanction, specifically, a permit suspension. This is part of our way to strengthen law enforcement," he said.
However, Raja Juli stopped short of disclosing the identities of the 26 companies, their operational locations, or the duration of the suspensions during his remarks.
In addition to administrative measures against these firms, he noted that the Directorate General of Forestry Law Enforcement is actively investigating 46 cases involving both corporate entities and individuals.
"In short, Gakkum is currently processing 46 cases: 15 involving corporations and 31 involving individuals. These cases are at various stages; two have been declared complete (P21), while the rest is still under investigation," Raja Juli said.
He stressed that enforcement will target both individuals and corporate entities, with any matter involving criminal elements proceeding through formal legal channels.
On August 25, 2026, the Ministry of Forestry levied administrative sanctions on six Forest Utilization Business Permit (PBPH) holders after field inspections uncovered fires burning across 1,511.55 hectares of concession land in West, Central, and East Kalimantan.
Among those six companies, five faced mandatory government enforcement measures, while one firm received both a permit suspension and mandatory enforcement sanctions.
At the time, the ministry stated that the penalties responded to the companies' failure to uphold their duties in preventing and controlling fires within their respective concessions.
Subsequently, in early September 2026, the Ministry of Forestry issued another round of administrative sanctions against five PBPH (Local Forest Concession) holders in West Kalimantan following reports of fires within their concession boundaries.
The Ministry of Forestry reiterated that penalties range from permit suspensions to mandatory ecological restoration, and may escalate to criminal charges if legal violations are found.
