InfoSAWIT, PADANG -  The Forest Area Enforcement Task Force (Satgas PKH) has closed a total of 8,133 hectares of illegal palm oil plantations in Solok Selatan Regency, West Sumatra, managed by two companies operating outside their land use rights (HGU).

Rasyid, Head of Legal Information at the West Sumatra Prosecutor's Office, explained that the land consists of 4,593 hectares planted by PT IMF and 3,540 hectares by PT BRM. The closure was executed with the installation of official prohibition signs by the Satgas PKH at the site on Saturday, August 9.

"We have closed the 8,133 hectares with prohibition signs from the Satgas PKH," Rasyid stated, as reported by InfoSAWIT from Kompas on August 11, 2025.

The Satgas PKH is a cross-agency team involving the Attorney General's Office of the Republic of Indonesia, West Sumatra Prosecutor's Office, Solok Selatan District Attorney's Office, TNI, Polri, the Ministry of Land Affairs, the Ministry of Environment, the Ministry of Forestry, ATR/BPN, the Geospatial Information Agency, BKSDA, and BPKP.

The prohibition signs installed contain a stern warning: "Entry to Forest Land Without Permission is Prohibited; Destruction, Looting, Theft, Embezzlement, Harvesting of Plants, Trading, and Control Without Authorization from Authorities is Forbidden."

Rasyid, accompanied by Lexy Fathurany, Head of Investigation at the West Sumatra Prosecutor's Office, noted that the enforcement began with clarifying the data of registered and unregistered landowners belonging to both companies. The operation took considerable time as one of the companies operated across three districts—Sijunjung, Dharmasraya, and Solok Selatan.

"This recovery is expected to restore damaged ecosystems and prevent further destruction in the future," Rasyid concluded. (T2)