InfoSAWIT, JAKARTA - President Joko Widodo did meet about palm oil with some minister in Kabinet Indonesia Maju, Tuesday, 26 September 2023 at Istana Merdeka, Jakarta. Coordinator Minister in Politics, Legal, and Security, Mahfud Md, as in the official statement after joining the meeting, said that the government decided some alternative of legal solution for the companies that break regulation in palm oil plantation advantages in Indonesia.

“The first alternative is to get solution by delivering administrative fine and should solve every term and condition. If the companies still break, not being cooperative after the time limit, or November 2023, they would be sued in criminal. The illegal palm oil plantation cultivation has been decided that there would be administrative fine and the companies should pay for the country’s losses with the fines,” he said as in the official statement to InfoSAWIT, Tuesday (26/9/2023).

Mahfud also explained that the non-cooperative companies would get into criminal sue. The charge would count not only the losses for the country but also the economic losses for the country.

“Experts would count the economic losses for the country, for instance, how much loss would the companies get from illegal palm oil plantations? We would count everything. Then the environmental damages in the country, how much would the company pay for? Everything would be paid by the companies,” Mahfud said.

He also told that the government identified some companies that should solve the issues about (illegal) palm oil cultivation. The government would take the Attorney to get criminal aspects and involve Badan Pengawasan Keuangan dan Pembangunan (BPKP) to calculate the losses of the country.

“The government’s financial losses should be legally managed, how much the taxes would be, the fine? About the losses for the country, how much the companies got? The numbers could be Rp 42 trillion? We calculated everything,” Mahfud said. (T2)