Indonesia names 11 corporate suspects in forest fire probe including three foreign firms as permit suspensions reach 32 companies

INDONESIA: Indonesian police have named 11 corporations as suspects in ongoing investigations into forest and land fires, including three foreign-invested firms, as enforcement against corporate-linked burning accelerates across Kalimantan, according to the Antara news agency.

According to New Straits Times (NST), National police chief General Suyudi Ario Seto declined to name the companies but said investigations were proceeding without major obstacles, and that accountability would extend beyond the corporate entities themselves to include company owners and shareholders.

“This includes both company owners and shareholders who bear responsibility for the corporations linked to forest and land fires in Indonesia,” Suyudi told reporters after a plenary Cabinet meeting at the Presidential Palace.

The criminal proceedings followed an earlier announcement by the National Police’s Criminal Investigation Agency that it had elevated 98 police reports concerning corporate-linked forest fires to the formal investigation stage.

Permit suspensions reach 32 companies

Alongside the criminal investigations, the Forestry Ministry has stepped up administrative enforcement. Forestry Minister Raja Juli Antoni announced that permits for six more companies in Central Kalimantan had been suspended, bringing the total number of forestry firms sanctioned to 32, as reported by NST.

The six newly sanctioned companies had their Forest Utilisation Business Permits suspended and were ordered to undertake environmental restoration in affected areas. Together, they hold concessions covering 201,391 hectares, of which 7,531 hectares were affected by recent fires.

The ministry’s administrative sanctions now cover 32 companies managing more than 1.9 million hectares of concessions, including 18,489 hectares affected by fires.

Why this matters for Singapore

The corporate accountability measures come as Indonesia’s forest fire season, which has pushed air quality to hazardous levels across Kalimantan and sent haze into Malaysia and Singapore, enters its enforcement phase.

The involvement of three foreign-invested firms among the named suspects adds an international dimension to what has historically been treated as a domestic Indonesian regulatory matter.

For Singapore, where haze from Indonesian fires has repeatedly affected public health and economic activity, the question of whether corporate accountability measures are strong enough to deter slash-and-burn land clearing practices is directly relevant to the region’s air quality and to the long-term viability of cross-border environmental frameworks.