Absolution of Sin for the Forest Demolishers
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22 May 2024 22:20 WIB
A scheme called "oil palm land pardoning" allows oil palm plantations that have previously been established in forest areas to become lawful. Midway through 2023, President Joko Widodo, also known as Jokowi, established the Oil Palm Task Force, with the goal of enhancing palm oil industry governance and maximizing state revenue. The responsibility of pardoning oil palm land in forest areas falls to this task group. Greenpeace's analysis indicates that there are about 817,693 hectares of oil palm land in forest areas in Central Kalimantan. As a result, Central Kalimantan surpasses Riau as the province with the most forest area breaches.
The pardoning of illegal oil palm land
The government claimed that by implementing this initiative, the disorganized management of oil palm estates will be improved. Pardoning oil palm land is also thought to be able to boost state tax collections and improve the reputation of Indonesia's palm oil sector abroad. One of the major producers of palm oil is Indonesia; however, because some of the plantations are situated in forest areas, the palm oil industry in this nation is seen as being environmentally harmful, including in Central Kalimantan’s forest areas.
A delegation from the Oil Palm Task Force paid a visit to the Central Kalimantan Provincial Plantation Service in August of 2023. Rizky claims that the Oil Palm Task Force promised to follow the Job Creation Law in resolving the conflict regarding land permissions for palm oil in forest areas. In the meantime, the corporation independently uses the Plantation Licensing Information System (Siperibun) application to apply for pardoning oil palm land in forest areas.
"Siperibun is not accessible to us. We have no idea because it's all under the control of the central government "explained Rizky. Siperibun is an online database and management system for plantation licenses. The Ministry of Agriculture's Director General of Plantations oversees this application.
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According to Rizky, the local administration is not aware of the advancement of this policy because the Siperibun application is being used in the application process to legalize oil palm land in forest areas. Rizky feels that the choice to pardon the unlawful oil palm land is the appropriate one, even though he does not dispute the harm that the expansion of oil palm plantation has caused to the peat ecology. "After all, the status is only a protected forest, the forest doesn't exist now," he stated.
It appears that PT Suryamas Cipta Perkasa is legalizing its oil palm land in forest areas by means of the oil palm land pardoning program. Tempo was able to obtain data that indicated PT Suryamas has proposed a pardon for their 19,189 hectares of oil palm land.
In December 2023, Tempo made an attempt to verify this with PT Suryamas Cipta Perkasa by going to its Paduran Sebangau, Pulang Pisau, Central Kalimantan office. But the corporate office that is located in the center of the plantation appeared to be deserted. Tempo also did not receive a response to the letter requesting an interview that it sent on February 2, 2024, to the Best Agro International office located on Jalan Gatot Subroto, Kuningan, South Jakarta.
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