InfoSAWIT, JAKARTA – The early of November 2023 should be the deadline when the government provided time to solve palm oil plantations in forest regions. Palm oil plantation bleaching raised worry and serious question from many parties about legal implication and the impacts to the people and environment.
Gunawan, Senior Advisor of Indonesia Human Right Committee For Social Justice (IHCS) told that the policy raised legal uncertainty to the people’s plantations in forest regions. The acknowledgement on the people’s rights on land and agrarian reformation actually should not have something to do with business permit which blocks agrarian reformation realization and people’s plantation development.
For this consideration, 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.
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 InfoSAWIT, 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)
