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President Prabowo Subianto has directed authorities to pinpoint five specific palm oil companies in Riau province that previously faced enforcement action for allegedly failing to meet forest and land fire prevention mandates.
The directive was issued to Riau Police Chief Inspector General Herry Heryawan during a coordination meeting on forest and land fire management held at the AJU Command Post in Pekanbaru, Riau, on Monday, August 24, 2026.
During the meeting, Inspector General Herry reported on the existing fire prevention infrastructure, noting that companies operating in forest areas are required to maintain observation towers. He confirmed that 268 such monitoring towers have been constructed to date. However, he disclosed that five companies were subject to enforcement action by the Ministry of Environment last year due to non-compliance with various fire prevention requirements.
'Last year, five corporations were subject to enforcement action by the Ministry of Environment because they did not fulfill their obligations, such as building observation towers or establishing rapid response teams in case a fire spot emerged in their areas,' Herry stated.
Following this report, President Prabowo requested the names of these five sanctioned companies. He also instructed authorities to identify any other companies that might have committed similar violations this year, to which Herry confirmed readiness to comply.
Prabowo then inquired about the follow-up status of the five companies, specifically whether they had since fulfilled the obligations that led to the initial enforcement action. Herry affirmed that these five companies had indeed met their obligations. However, he noted that their sanctions remained active, and their business permits had not been revoked. 'They have, sir, fulfilled [their obligations]. But until now, the five companies remain in status quo. The five palm oil companies remain in status quo,' Herry explained.
President Prabowo underscored that the government would further scrutinize these cases. He firmly stated that companies failing to uphold their commitments to prevent forest and land fires could face the revocation of their operating permits. He further warned that the government would not hesitate to withdraw permits from any companies that decline to participate in broader fire prevention initiatives.
'Whoever does not want to participate in protecting [the environment], we will revoke [their permits]. This is a source of livelihood for the people, and also a source of livelihood for the companies. They cannot act as they please and fail to prevent [fires],' Prabowo asserted.
This governmental push coincides with ongoing efforts to bolster forest and land fire prevention measures across Riau, where companies with operations in forest regions are mandated to maintain both monitoring infrastructure and rapid response teams to detect and mitigate fire risks effectively.
Source: Indonesia Business Post