PALMOILMAGAZINE, PALU – Activists from the Aliansi Masyarakat Lingkar Sawit staged a demonstration outside the Central Sulawesi Attorney’s office on Monday, June 24, 2024. They displayed banners and distributed pamphlets, calling on the Head of the Central Sulawesi Attorney to promptly investigate corruption allegations involving PT Agro Nusa Abadi (ANA), a subsidiary of PT Astra Agro Lestari Tbk.
According to Antara, the alliance, composed of several civil organizations, claimed that PT Agro Nusa Abadi began operations in North Morowali Regency since 2019 without proper business rights. They argue that this constitutes a serious violation of agrarian and environmental regulations.
Moh Tauhid, the coordinator as cited by Deadline-News, expressed suspicions that PT ANA’s operations may be illegal.
These concerns were echoed by Haikal Toramai, Head of the UPT Balai Perbenihan Tanaman Perkebunan in the Plantation and Livestock Agency of Central Sulawesi Province. Haikal stated that the company’s location permit extension was unlawful. The late Regent Haris Rengga, who approved the permit extension, lacked the authority to take such action.
Haikal further noted that PT ANA did not possess a valid business permit due to issues with local stakeholders and fragmented plantations. “This issue was discussed in a meeting involving the Plantation Agency, Head of Agrarian Affairs/National Land Agency of Central Sulawesi, and PT ANA itself. The plantations of PT ANA did not meet the criteria for obtaining business rights,” Haikal explained.
He continued, ever since the company got new planting, there was issue with the local because surat keterangan pendaftaran tanah (SKPT) that the head of village published was overlapping. At the time, PT ANA was still in the Regency of Morowali that laid on about 19.000 hectares.
Haikal thought, when Regency of Morowali got expansion with Morowali Utara, the areas of PT.ANA got smaller to be 7.200 hectares and should be registered in the Regency of Morowali Utara.
In 2018, Ombudsman in Central Sulawesi Province found that the areas of PT ANA were overlapping with the transmigration areas and the peoples’ areas that got certificate. Ombudsman also found that plantation permits of PT ANA were illegal because the permits were published by having no business rights.
Ombudsman did find the changing location permit that was published by regent in duty of Morowali Utara on 20 August 2014 within the number SK No.188.45/KEP-B.MU/0096/VIII/2014 about Permit Location Update. This managed the decreasing areas from 19.675 hectares to be 7.244,33 hectares. But when paying tax object in Kantor Pelayanan Pajak (KPP) Pratama in Poso, (the company) just paid 6.654 hectares while the rests of the areas still laid on about 7.244,33 hectares.
Head of Legal Information, Central Sulawesi Attorney, Laode Sofyan, SH, as quoted from deadline-news said that the investigator team of special criminal assisten is in investigation process about corruption assumptioin and legality of PT ANA. Some heads of villages from Morowali Utara were asked about the case. (P2)
