Forestry Minister Says 9 Forest Fire Cases Under Legal Process, 4 Already Have Suspects

Forestry Minister Raja Juli Antoni has revealed that nine forest and land fire (karhutla) cases are currently under legal enforcement. Of that number, four cases have resulted in the naming of suspects.

Raja Juli conveyed this during a working meeting with Commission IV of the House of Representatives (DPR) at the parliament building in Senayan, Jakarta, on Tuesday (18/8/2026). He initially stated that 13 legal subjects holding forest utilisation business permits (PBPH) had been issued warning letters in connection with the detection of hotspots and reporting obligations.

“Twelve supervised PBPH legal subjects have been subject to administrative sanctions in the form of written warning letters regarding forest fire violations,” he said.

“To date, supervision of fire preparedness among forestry permit holders has been carried out on 15 PBPH holders,” he continued.

He added that law enforcement operations related to forest and land fires are still ongoing. He said the four cases in which suspects have been named consist of three cases in Riau and one case in West Kalimantan.

“In line with the law enforcement operations, legal enforcement is currently underway in nine cases, of which four have resulted in the naming of suspects — three cases in Riau and one in West Kalimantan,” he explained.

Meanwhile, two cases are under investigation. Raja Juli said those cases are in West Kalimantan.

“One case is in the P-19 process in North Sumatra, and one case is in the preliminary inquiry stage at Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park and Mount Gede Pangrango National Park,” he said.

Raja Juli also explained data on the handling of forest and land fire cases from January to July. As of 15 August, 40 forest fire cases had been recorded across West Kalimantan, Aceh and Riau.

“The latest data we received from the National Police Criminal Investigation Agency (Bareskrim Polri) shows that progress in handling forest fire cases from January to July, as of 15 August 2023, totals 40 cases spread across West Kalimantan, Aceh and Riau provinces. Suspects have been named in the cases of 29 individuals in Riau Province,” he said.