InfoSAWIT, JAKARTA — The Indonesian Palm Oil Farmers Organizations Association (POPSI) has urged the government to ensure fairness and balance in law enforcement carried out by the Forest Area Enforcement Task Force (Satgas PKH). POPSI Chairman Mansuetus Darto warned that the imposition of administrative fines worth tens of trillions of rupiah on palm oil and mining companies could have widespread consequences if not accompanied by fundamental governance reforms.
Previously, the task force demanded fines from 71 companies accused of operating in forest areas without permits. Of these, 49 were palm oil plantation companies, with total fines reaching Rp 9.4 trillion. While acknowledging the importance of enforcement, Darto stressed that such measures must not undermine smallholder farmers or the sustainability of Indonesia’s palm oil industry.
“Law enforcement is important, but fairness for all stakeholders must remain the core principle—especially for smallholder farmers who are at the downstream end of the production chain,” Darto said in a statement received by InfoSAWIT, Sunday (14/12/2025).
He identified the root of long-standing land conflicts as unclear forest boundaries. Many areas designated as forest zones, he noted, have never been properly verified on the ground, resulting in administrative maps that do not reflect actual land use conditions.
From an academic standpoint, inaccurate forest boundaries weaken the legitimacy of spatial policies and fuel prolonged conflicts. POPSI therefore urged Satgas PKH to conduct participatory field verification involving farmers, local communities, and industry players to ensure social acceptance of enforcement actions.
POPSI also highlighted inconsistencies between forest area designations set by the central government and regional spatial plans (RTRW). In practice, forest zoning often conflicts with district or municipal spatial plans and lacks adequate field verification.
Darto further criticized the top-down approach often used in drafting regional spatial plans, which tends to overlook local social, economic, and agrarian realities. Such non-participatory planning, he warned, risks perpetuating spatial conflicts.
“The government must open formal dialogue among central authorities, regional governments, and palm oil farmers so that spatial planning truly reflects realities on the ground and ensures spatial justice,” he said.
Regarding administrative fines, POPSI does not oppose sanctions in principle. However, Darto emphasized the need to consider companies’ financial capacity. Rigid and inflexible penalties could push companies into bankruptcy, directly affecting plasma and independent smallholders who depend on them as fresh fruit bunch (FFB) buyers.
POPSI therefore called for proportionality and restorative justice, including negotiable payment schemes tailored to each company’s financial condition.
Despite its concerns, POPSI reaffirmed its support for fair law enforcement in the forestry and plantation sectors, stressing that enforcement must go hand in hand with transparent, data-based, and participatory forest governance reforms. (T2)
