KPK: Farmers' Income Allegedly Cut to Process Forest Release

The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) suspects that a portion of farmers’ income in Kuantan Singingi Regency, Riau, was deducted to process a recommendation for the release of a limited production forest (HPT) area.

Acting Director of KPK Investigations Achmad Taufik Husein stated that this finding emerged during an in-depth investigation into alleged gratuities involving Kuantan Singingi Regent Suhardiman Amby.

“The money requested for this matter came from the surplus of the KUD members’ business operations, who are farmers in Kuansing. In other words, the farmers’ income, which ranges from hundreds of thousands of rupiah per month, had to be cut in half as a means to process the permit for the release of the limited production forest area,” Taufik said at the KPK’s Merah Putih Building in Jakarta on Wednesday.

However, the KPK has not yet disclosed further details of the case’s construction as investigators are still examining the facts uncovered during the inquiry.

Previously, the KPK conducted a sting operation in Kuantan Singingi and Jakarta on 29 June 2026, securing 10 individuals. Of that number, five were taken to the KPK’s Merah Putih Building for intensive examination, comprising three private parties, a civil servant from the Kuantan Singingi Regency Government, and Suhardiman’s wife, Suci Nitia Edwar. The KPK subsequently requested Suhardiman and Kuantan Singingi Regional Secretary Zulkarnain to surrender on 30 June 2026. Both were later picked up by investigators at Soekarno-Hatta Airport.