Indonesian president calls for thorough investigation into forest and land fires

China News Service, Jakarta, October 21 (Reporter Li Zhiquan) Indonesian President Prabowo asked relevant departments to thoroughly investigate the human factors and corporate responsibilities behind forest and land fires on the 21st, and stated that once the evidence is conclusive, all licenses of illegal enterprises will be revoked.

Prabowo chaired a plenary meeting of the cabinet in Jakarta that day and said that field investigations found that forest and land fires in Indonesia were not entirely caused by natural factors, but that there was human intervention. He also said that some people who deliberately set fires were caught by the public. He asked the police, prosecutors and forestry departments to conduct investigations with the assistance of the Indonesian National Army and intelligence agencies to identify the relevant responsible parties.

Prabowo called deliberate arson "environmental terrorism" and pointed out that such acts endanger the health of millions of people and the government cannot take it lightly. He said that the government will increase efforts to control forest and land fires and investigate them thoroughly, and will no longer deal with such problems in the usual way.

"If the evidence is conclusive, we will take action to revoke all licenses of all illegal enterprises." Prabowo said that the relevant enterprises will be disclosed at the appropriate time.

At present, the Indonesian government has taken administrative measures against enterprises involved in forest and land fires. Indonesian Forestry Minister Raja Juli Anthony announced on the 21st that the government has once again suspended the relevant forest management licenses of six companies. So far, 32 companies have been subject to administrative penalties.

The total operating concession area of ​​these six companies is approximately 201,400 hectares, of which approximately 7,531 hectares were affected by fires.