Jakarta (Antara Bali) - The government has revoked the permits of two timber estate companies because they were found involved in land and forest fires.
The two companies have been identified by their initials as PT MAS in West Kalimantan and PT DHL in Jambi, Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya said here on Monday.
The government has also frozen the permits of four other companies, identified by their initials as PT SBAWI, PT PBP, PT DML and PT RPM.
PT SBAWI which is engaged in timber estate and PT RPM which is engaged in plantation are located in South Sumatra, while PT PBP which is located in Jambi and PT DML which is located in East Kalimantan are forest concession holders.
The companies which received warrants from the government are PT BSS in West Kalimantan and PT KU in Jambi. Both are engaged in plantations. PT IHM in East Kalimantan and PT WS in Jambi, both engaged in timber estate, also received the warrants.
"As of today (Monday), 14 companies have been subjected to administrative sanctions," said the minister, who was accompanied by the ministry's Secretary General Bambang Hendroyono and Director General of Law Enforcement, Rasio Rido Sani.
She said investigators of the ministry are investigating 26 companies as part of the efforts to bring their cases to court.
Fires have burnt 1.7 million hectares of land and forest across Indonesia during this drought, she said.
The government's step to revoke and freeze the permits of forest concession holders and timber estate companies has sparked a protest by the business world.
"The measure will have a serious impact on business certainty and forestry investors' confidence, while tens of thousands of workers are under the threat of layoffs," Deputy Chairman of the Indonesian Association of Forestry Companies (APHI), Irsyal Yasman, has said. (WDY)
