Inp.polri.go.id - Jakarta. Director General of Environmental and Forestry Law Enforcement at the Ministry of Environment and Forestry Rasio Ridho Sani announced on Saturday (7/10/2023) that the authorities will enforce administrative sanctions such as permit revocation, legal action to claim environmental damages, and criminal prosecution against perpetrators of land and forest fires in Indonesia. He explained that the multiple charges not only involve primary criminal penalties, which carry a 10-year prison sentence and a fine of Rp10 billion, but also allows for up to 12 years in prison and a fine of Rp12 billion if the forest fires have adverse health effects, antaranews.com reported The ministry has collaborated with the Attorney General's Office and the Indonesian National Police (INP) to enforce integrated criminal law, streamlining the penalty process for wrongdoers. In addition to primary penalties, which include imprisonment and fines, wrongdoers are also at risk of facing additional penalties, including profit confiscation. Sani pointed out that many companies, including land clearing operations, fail to provide necessary equipment for forest and land fire control in pursuit of profit. "We will seize criminal proceeds as part of our measures to enforce environmental and forestry laws in Indonesia," said Sani. From January 1, 2023, to October 5, 2023, KLHK has sent warning notices to 220 corporations suspected of having hotspots in their concession areas in West Kalimantan,  Central Kalimantan, East Kalimantan, and South Sumatra. The Ministry had ceased the operation of 35 plots of lands in West Kalimantan, East Kalimantan, and in South Sumatra, with the majority being operated by companies in the oil palm plantation industry. (mg/inp/pr/nm)