PALMOILMAGAZINE, JAKARTA – Hashim Djojohadikusumo, Chairman of the Prabowo-Gibran Transition Team Task Force, announced a new approach to handling illegal palm oil plantations. Instead of imprisonment, companies found violating regulations will face fines of up to Rp 300 trillion. This strategy aims to ensure stable business operations in Indonesia.
Hashim, who also serves as Vice Chairman of Partai Gerindra’s Board of Supervisors and CEO of Arsari Group, made the announcement at an APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) Indonesia event, held in collaboration with the Ministry of Investment/Investment Coordination Agency and the Ministry of Finance on Saturday, 31 August 2024, at Hutan Kota by Plataran, Gelora Bung Karno, Senayan, Jakarta.
He noted that the government has identified over 300 palm oil companies operating illegally across approximately 7 million hectares. To combat this, the Badan Pengawasan Keuangan dan Pembangunan (BPKP) is using satellite and drone technology to monitor illegal activities.
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“There are many illegal palm oil plantations, about 7 juta hectares. BPKP saw and monitored by using drones and satellite. We got their names. I saw them, more than 300,” he said, as Palmoilmagazine.com quoted from Viva, Monday (2/9/2024).
He thought, the government of Prabowo Subianto would decide to offer fine as the alternative of jail because there would be significant impacts for the businesses if the stakeholders would be put in jail. “The government told you ‘you should be put in jail, what you did and do are crime’. But instead of putting in jail, we would deliver chance to pay the fine. It would be Rp 300 trillion,” Hashim said.
By implementing this, the government would hope to significantly get fund to be used in development program. The illegal stakeholders mentioned to pay the fine which means, in the first week of Prabowo-Gibran, Rp 300 trillion would be gathered.
“In fact, the violators (stakeholders) would pay after Prabowo warned them. They would pay. Perhaps in the first weeks of the new government, there would be Rp 300 trillion, instead of the full jail,” he said.
This would show the commitment of the government of Prabowo-Gibran to serve the justice while delivering chances for the business world and confirm that natural resource cultivation in Indonesia should be responsibly implemented. (P2)
