PALMOILMAGAZINE, JAKARTA –The issue of palm oil plantation bleaching has prompted concerns and raised significant questions from various stakeholders regarding its legal implications and its impact on both the environment and the well-being of the people. By early November 2023, the government has set a deadline for addressing palm oil plantations in forested areas.
Senior Advisor at the Indonesia Human Rights Committee for Social Justice (IHCS), Gunawan expressed that the policy has generated legal uncertainties for individuals with plantations in forested regions.
The recognition of people’s rights to land and agrarian reform should ideally remain separate from business permits, which have the potential to hinder the realization of agrarian reform and impede the development of people’s plantations.
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For this consideration, the Chairman of Pusat Hukum dan Resolusi Konflik (PURAKA), Ahmad Zazali said that the simulation output from calculating every administrative fine indicated that the government would get massive numbers from troubled plantations.
Ministry of Environment and Forestry (MEF) showed that palm oil plantations in a 10 thousand hectare within 1o year productive business and net profits per year per hectare would be equal to Rp 25 million and forest canopy for about 20 percent would have the fine about Rp 500 billion.
It means, every hectare of palm oil plantation in forest regions would transfer some money to non – tax revenue (NTR) in forestry sector about 50 million. If it is assumed that palm oil plantations that develop in forest regions laid about 2,1 million hectares to pay the fine, the government would get income from NTR would be 105 trillion. The numbers do not include administrative fine from the plantations that belong to personals, groups, or unions that may be more than 5 hectares and administrative fine in Chapter 110A Undang-Undang Cipta Kerja (UUCK). The numbers of fine would be more than what MEF predicted by saying that administrative fine would be only Rp 50 trillion.
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He also emphasized that the public needs to know how many planters (stakeholders) that paid administrative fine. “Transparency is hoped to help the people to know, understand the impact of the policy and confirm that the income from administrative fine would be efficiently used for environmental interests and the people themselves,” he said, as in the official statement to Palmoilmagazine.com, Friday (3/11/2023).
On the other hand, Executive Director of Sawit Watch, Ahmad Surambo wanted to know what the government would do after the deadline is over. This reflects worries that there would be further policies to be published and would the government have concrete plans to develop sustainable and environmental palm oil plantations. (T2)
