PALMOILMAGAZINE, BOGOR – The publication of the Omnibus Law on Job Creation (Undang-Undang Cipta Kerja or UUCK) has introduced a significant shift in the approach to palm oil plantations that were unlawfully established in forested areas.
This change stems from the replacement of the Laws on Forest Destruction Prevention and Eradication (LFDPE) with the inclusion of Article 110 A and 110 B within the UUCK. Subsequently, the implementation regulations were issued in the form of Government Regulation (GR) Number 24 / 2021, outlining the Procedures for Imposing Administrative Sanctions and Procedures for Non-Tax Revenue derived from Administrative Fines in the Forestry Sector.
Coordinator of Advocacy Team to claim Omnibus Law (UUCK), Janses E. Sihaloho emphasized that the GR would break the guarantee of certain law and people’s protection around the forests. That is why we claim Chapter 3 of the GR because it would raise legal uncertainty.
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“There are some contradictions among UUCK, the Laws in Government Regulation in Lieu of Cipta Kerja to be Laws and GR. The GR itself would regulate what UUCK and the Laws in Government Regulation in Lieu of Cipta Kerja never order. It also regulates what is excluded by LFDPE,” he said, as in the official statement to Palmoilmagazine.com, Wednesday (20/9/2023).
Director of Sawit Watch, Achmad Surambo said that the policy would be the space for (many) companies to get the same violation in the future. The companies could cultivate in forest regions in forest region because there is something like ‘guarantee’ (to get bleaching again). The government should seriously solve the ‘too late’ palm oil plantations in forest regions by prioritizing to solve the villages in forest regions. For information, Ministry of Environment and Forestry revealed that about 25.863 villages are in and around forest regions. They consist of 9,2 million families.
“The government should focus on this. Sawit Watch noted that by 2023 there have been 1088 cases that many communities are in conflicts in palm oil plantations. They are mostly in tenant cases (62,5%) that could happen in forest regions,” Surambo said. (T2)