Jakarta – The revocation of 28 company permits in Sumatra is the first step towards restoring the rights of the people and the environment in Sumatra.
The accumulation of capital activities (extractive industry companies) in forestry, palm oil plantations, mining and other sectors has resulted in Aceh, North Sumatra and West Sumatra experiencing a significant decline in environmental carrying and supportive capacity.
The permit revocation process must be followed by a comprehensive evaluation of other permits, environmental restoration and the protection of important ecosystems throughout Sumatra.
Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) National Executive Director Boy Jerry Even Sembiring emphasised that, "The state must ensure that the revocation of business permits in Aceh, North Sumatra and West Sumatra is not for the transfer of former concession areas to other companies, whether state-owned or private. The state must also ensure that companies whose permits are revoked are responsible for carrying out restoration measures".
"Permit revocation will be meaningless without a restoration plan. After years of destroying and profiting greatly from the forests and nature in Aceh and North Sumatra, these companies must be forced to restore the environmental and community losses", added Sembiring.
Restoration of indigenous community rights
The company PT Toba Pulp Lestari was formerly known as PT Indo Rayon. From 1980 to 1990, Walhi advocated against and challenged the company's existence. In fact, Walhi's 1988 lawsuit against PT Indorayon resulted in a legal breakthrough, namely the recognition of environmental organisations' right to sue.
The revocation of PT Toba Pulp Lestari's permit this time must not follow the precedent set in March 1999. At that time, PT Indorayon's business permit and activities were suspended, but in 2002, it resumed operations under the new name, PT Toba Pulp Lestari. This permit revocation must ensure it does not follow the same pattern as before.
Walhi North Sumatra Executive Director Rianda Purba stated that the revocation of PT Toba Pulp Lestari's business permit this time round must be accompanied by two policies.
First, ensuring the state redistributes the former PT Toba Pulp Lestari concession to indigenous communities. Indigenous communities in the former PT Toba Pulp Lestari working area have been in conflict with the company since the 1980s. Second, the permit revocation must ensure that PT Toba Pulp Lestari and Royal Golden Eagle (the holding company) fulfill their environmental restoration responsibilities.
Illegal mining in Sumatra not yet targeted
The permit revocations in West Sumatra targeted several companies in the Mentawai Islands archipelago. Three of these companies are PT Minas Pagai Lumber, PT Biomassa Andalan Energi and PT Salaki Suma Sejahtera. All three are in conflict with communities in the Mentawai Islands. Therefore, the permit revocation must be used as an opportunity to resolve the conflict and restore the rights of indigenous communities.
Unfortunately, the permit revocations in West Sumatra have not yet included law enforcement against illegal gold mining (PETI), which contributed significantly to the flooding in West Sumatra.
Wengky Purwanto, the executive director of the West Sumatra chapter of Walhi, said, "We have yet to see swift and effective action from the police to ensure legal action against PETI operators in West Sumatra. If this continues, the same disaster will inevitably occur again, and the perpetrators will continue mining without any deterrent effect".
Permit revocation irregularities in Aceh
Walhi has also found irregularities in the permit revocation process in Aceh. PT Rimba Timur Sentosa and PT Rimba Wawasan Permai in Aceh are two companies whose permits were revoked in 2022. Meanwhile, PT Aceh Nusa Indrapuri is on the list of permits to be evaluated in 2022.
Walhi Aceh Executive Director Ahmad Solihin has questioned why the permits of two companies, which had been revoked in 2022, were revoked again now.
He believes that it would have been more appropriate for the President, through the Forestry Ministry, to conduct an evaluation that would have resulted in the revocation of the permits of three companies suspected of significantly contributing to the flood disaster. These three companies are PT Tualang Raya (Aceh Timur) DAS Jambo Aye, PT Wajar Korpora (Aceh Tamiang) DAS Tamiang and PT Tusam Hutani Lestari.
Furthermore, the government has demonstrated a serious commitment to restoring Sumatra Island by not issuing new extractive industry permits in the revoked concession areas. This step must be followed by a participatory licensing evaluation and an immediate revision of Sumatra's spatial planning policy based on environmental carrying capacity.
This administrative law enforcement process must set a good precedent for revoking the permits of other companies that contributed to the capital disaster occurring in Sumatra.
For further information:
Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi),
Jln. Tegal Parang Utara No. 14, Mampang Prapatan, South Jakarta
Email: informasi@walhi.or.id
Instagram: @walhi.nasional, X: @walhi.nasional, TikTok: @walhi.nasional
Mobile: (+628115501980)
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Walhi: Pemulihan Sumatra Tidak Boleh Berhenti di Pencabutan 28 Perizinan Berusaha!".]
