KUALA LUMPUR – Indonesia plans to revoke, restrict or refuse to renew land cultivation rights held by 11 companies suspected of involvement in forest and land fires in Kalimantan.
Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning Minister Nusron Wahid said the proposed measures followed recommendations from the National Police’s Criminal Investigation Agency after an assessment of the companies’ land concessions, Bernama reported.
He said the ministry had divided the 11 companies into five categories based on its findings, with the relevant administrative decisions now being prepared.
“The data have been conveyed, and what remains is the preparation of the draft decision letters. We will announce them soon,” he said, according to a statement issued by the ministry.
Nusron made the remarks following a coordination meeting chaired by Coordinating Minister for Political and Security Affairs Dudung Abdurachman in Jakarta on Monday.
He also disclosed that some of the companies had foreign beneficial owners allegedly linked to South Korea, Malaysia and Singapore. Others had domestic investors or shareholders, whose identities could not yet be revealed.
Under the proposed measures, three companies will have their land cultivation rights revoked entirely, affecting a combined area of approximately 23,274 hectares in South and West Kalimantan.
The ministry cited fires affecting more than half of their concession areas, inadequate facilities and infrastructure, repeated fire incidents and breaches of land-use conditions as grounds for the action.
Another company in West Kalimantan will not be granted an extension or renewal of its land cultivation rights, following the expiry of its 2,300-hectare concession in 2020.
Three other companies will be barred from obtaining new land cultivation rights, with the ministry also planning to consult the Agriculture Ministry on potentially revoking their plantation business licences.
Separately, a company in West Kalimantan faces partial revocation of its land cultivation rights, involving approximately 1,510 hectares.
The remaining three companies are still being assessed to determine whether their concessions should be revoked in full or only partially, the ministry said. – November 10, 2026