JAKARTA: Indonesia stripped more than two dozen permits from forestry, mining and hydroelectric companies in Sumatra Tuesday (Jan 20), a government minister said, just weeks after deadly floods devastated parts of the island.
Environmentalists, experts and the government said deforestation played a role in last year's disaster that killed more than 1,000 people across three provinces on the island, according to a National Disaster Mitigation Agency tally.
A task force audited companies in the three provinces and presented its findings to President Prabowo Subianto during a teleconference on Monday, State Secretariat Minister Prasetyo Hadi told reporters the day after.
"Based on the report, the president has decided to revoke the permit of 28 companies that were proven to commit violations," Prasetyo said during the Tuesday briefing.
He did not specify what type of violations the firms had allegedly committed or which permits were revoked.
The companies affected include 22 forestry firms covering a combined area of more than one million hectares, Prasetyo said.
Six other companies include a mining firm and a hydroelectric power plant developer, he added, saying that the government is committed to ensuring that natural resources-based businesses comply with the prevailing regulations.
More than 240,000 hectares of primary forest were lost in 2024, according to analysis by conservation start-up The TreeMap's Nusantara Atlas project.
Forests help absorb rainfall and stabilise the ground held by their roots, and their absence makes areas more prone to flash flooding and landslides, founder of The TreeMap David Gaveau told AFP in December.
Indonesia is regularly among the countries in the world with the largest annual forest loss, NGOs have said, adding that mining, plantations and fires have caused the clearance of large tracts of the country's lush rainforest over recent decades.
Last week, the government filed multiple lawsuits seeking more than US$200 million in damages against six other firms accused of unspecified environmental damage. - AFP
