TEMPO.CO, Jakarta-President Joko Widodo told his cabinet in a limited meeting Friday, October 23, that there will be no more new permits to utilize peatlands and old permits will be reviewed.
The president said as reported in the Cabinet Secretariat official website that he still receive reports of many fire hotspots in some areas of the country, in Sumatra, there are 826 fires with 703 alone in South Sumatra, 974 points in Kalimantan and others, including in Papua.
“[The haze] has great impact and can be categorized as very unhealthy," the president said in his introduction to the meeting at the President's office, on Friday morning.
President Jokowi instructs his ministers to restore peatlands and continue synchronizing Indonesia’s map. Currently, the country has overlapping maps as a result of ministries creating operational maps with different standards, causing conflicts on the ground.
“Firstly, the ‘one map policy’ should run, at the Ministry for Economic Affairs and Bappenas.
Secondly, there will be no new licenses to be issued on peatlands, he said.
“Immediately restorate peat," the president instructs the Minister of Environment and Forestry Siti Nurbaya, adding that old permits should be reviewed.
The limited meeting of haze disaster management was attended by the Minister for Economic Affairs Darmin Nasution, Minister for Legal and Security Affairs Luhut Pandjaitan, State Secretary Pratikno, Cabinet Secretary Pramono Agung, Minister of Internal Affairs Tjahjo Kumolo, Minister of Environment and Forestry Siti Nurbaya, Presidential Office Chief of Staff Teten Masduki, Health Minister Nila F. Moelok, Minister of Education Anies Baswedan, Minister of Public Housing and Public Works Basuki Hadimuljono, and Finance Minister Bambang Brodjonegoro.
NZM
