Indonesia has imposed administrative sanctions on six forestry concession holders after investigations found that fires had destroyed more than 1,500 hectares of land under their management across Kalimantan.
Director of Forestry Supervision, Administrative Sanctions and Civil Affairs at the Ministry of Forestry Ardi Risman said the action involved four companies operating in West Kalimantan, namely PT WEL, PT FI, PT MPK and PT WSP, as well as PT NES in Central Kalimantan and PT PSR in East Kalimantan.
“The government’s enforcement action against the companies is intended to ensure they fulfil their obligations, from improving fire prevention and control systems to restoring affected areas within the stipulated period,” he said, according to Antara News on Tuesday.
He said the business licence of one company in West Kalimantan had also been suspended after fires repeatedly occurred on a large scale within its concession area.
Failure to comply with the prescribed measures could result in stricter sanctions, including licence revocation, he said.
The Forestry Ministry said in its latest social media update that satellite monitoring as of 9pm Monday detected 341 high-confidence hotspots across four Kalimantan provinces, comprising 129 in West Kalimantan, 107 in East Kalimantan, 85 in Central Kalimantan and 20 in South Kalimantan.
Another 641 medium-confidence hotspots were detected across West, Central and South Kalimantan, with 315 recorded in West Kalimantan, 219 in Central Kalimantan and 107 in South Kalimantan.
Indonesian authorities have also approved the deployment of 36 helicopters registered overseas and issued 35 special permits to 11 domestic air operators for aerial firefighting operations.
Separately, Antara News reported on Monday that the Environment Ministry is taking legal action against around 30 companies nationwide over forest and land fires this year.
The claims amount to nearly Rp15 trillion (about RM3.42 billion) for state losses and environmental restoration costs.
