Police Reveal Foreign Corporate Involvement in South Kalimantan Forest Fires Amid National Crackdown on Environmental Crimes

Jakarta — Indonesian law enforcement authorities have uncovered foreign involvement in corporate entities linked to devastating forest and land fires across South Kalimantan. The disclosure marks a critical escalation in the government’s ongoing nationwide battle against environmental degradation, illegal land-clearing practices, and corporate negligence that routinely blankets vast regions of Southeast Asia in toxic haze.

According to high-ranking officials within the Indonesian National Police (Polri), investigators are aggressively probing multiple corporate entities operating in the province. The investigation focuses on whether foreign investors, major shareholders, and overseas parent companies bear culpability for systemic failures in fire prevention and suppression infrastructure.

The revelation underscores the transnational dimensions of Indonesia’s annual ecological crisis, where foreign capital often flows into lucrative agribusiness sectors—primarily palm oil cultivation—while local ecosystems suffer the catastrophic consequences of unregulated or poorly managed land preparation.

Unraveling the South Kalimantan Investigation

Senior Commissioner Sigit Haryono, the Director of Special Criminal Investigation for the South Kalimantan Regional Police (Polda Kalsel), confirmed that investigators are examining the ownership structures of several corporations currently under legal scrutiny.

"Based on our in-depth case assessments involving 13 targeted corporations, we have identified several companies with direct ties to foreign parties," Sigit stated during a press briefing. He clarified that these foreign entities are not merely external suppliers or transactional partners. Instead, they hold significant equity stakes, operate as foreign-owned direct investment enterprises within Indonesia, or function as overseas-backed firms that employ local workforces.

While authorities have withheld the exact names of the implicated firms pending formal charges, police confirmed that the vast majority operate within the palm oil plantation sector. The geographical footprint of these suspect corporations spans several critical districts across South Kalimantan, including Banjar, Barito Kuala, Tapin, and Tanah Laut.

Crucially, investigators have not yet uncovered definitive evidence of intentional, premeditated arson by corporate leadership. Instead, the current legal trajectory points heavily toward gross criminal negligence. Specifically, police are scrutinizing inadequate firefighting infrastructure, a lack of mandatory emergency equipment, poorly defined standard operating procedures (SOPs), and the systemic absence of properly trained on-site response personnel.

In total, the South Kalimantan regional investigation has targeted 13 corporate entities alongside 16 individual suspects who may face criminal charges for their roles in allowing or causing the fires to spread unchecked.

National Scale: A Comprehensive Police Report

The localized findings in South Kalimantan form a small part of a much larger, systemic national crackdown. During a Plenary Cabinet Session at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta, police leadership delivered a comprehensive update to President Prabowo Subianto detailing the scope of environmental enforcement across the archipelago.

National Police officials reported that as of October 20, 2026, law enforcement agencies—encompassing ten regional police directorates (Poldas) and the Directorate of Special Economic and Environmental Crimes (Tipiter) under the Bareskrim Polri—had registered 100 formal police reports (Laporan Polisi) concerning corporate-driven forest and land fires (karhutla).

The cumulative scale of environmental destruction tied directly to these corporate cases is staggering, affecting an estimated 29,534.99 hectares of land. Out of the 100 active cases, six remain in the preliminary investigative phase, while 94 have advanced to full formal investigations.

To enforce strict regulatory compliance and deter future environmental negligence, the National Police recommended the revocation of operational permits for 23 of these corporate entities. Within this high-priority sub-group of 23 firms, 11 corporations have already been formally designated as criminal suspects, while investigations into the remaining 12 continue. For the remaining 71 cases where permit revocation was not immediately recommended, two corporations have faced formal suspect designation, and 69 remain under intensive investigation.

The Transnational Footprint and Foreign Capital

The data presented by police leadership further highlights the complex nexus between foreign direct investment (FDI) and environmental violations. Out of all corporate cases tracked nationally, 22 corporations are officially affiliated with foreign investments or overseas ownership structures (Penanaman Modal Asing/PMA).

Among these 22 foreign-affiliated corporations, exactly half—11 companies—have been named criminal suspects. These 11 suspect corporations control a massive combined concession area spanning 209,933 hectares, within which 11,105.39 hectares have been severely damaged by fires. Meanwhile, the 12 foreign-affiliated corporations that have not yet attained suspect status manage a cumulative concession area of 166,756 hectares, with 8,849 hectares affected by fires.

Geographically, the concentration of these indicted foreign-affiliated corporations is heavily skewed toward resource-rich provinces. Of the 11 suspect firms with foreign ties, eight operate in West Kalimantan, two are situated in Central Kalimantan, and one is located in South Kalimantan.

In addition to corporate investigations, law enforcement agencies across 13 regional jurisdictions have targeted individual actors. Police reported 286 separate cases involving individual perpetrators, resulting in the identification of 243 individual suspects across 5,856 hectares of burned land. Out of these individual cases, 32 remain under preliminary review, nine cases have been dropped due to insufficient evidence, 189 are undergoing advanced prosecution processing, and 56 cases have reached final legal completion.

Background Context and Chronology of the Crisis

Indonesia’s battle against forest and land fires is a perennial challenge with profound domestic and international ramifications. Historically, the dry season—exacerbated by climatic phenomena such as El Niño—creates tinderbox conditions across peatlands and forested zones in Sumatra and Kalimantan.

While small-scale farmers historically used traditional slash-and-burn clearing methods, the scale of devastation witnessed over the past decade is predominantly driven by commercial land preparation for monoculture plantations, particularly oil palm and pulpwood.

Over the years, the Indonesian government has faced intense international pressure from neighboring ASEAN nations and global environmental bodies to curb the transboundary haze caused by these fires. In response, successive administrations have strengthened environmental laws, established the Peatland and Mangrove Restoration Agency (BRGM), and empowered law enforcement to pursue corporate actors through both civil lawsuits and criminal prosecutions.

The current legal offensive under President Prabowo Subianto’s administration marks a decisive shift toward zero tolerance for corporate negligence. By targeting not only local management but also tracing liability upward to corporate parents and foreign financiers, Indonesian authorities are attempting to dismantle the financial impunity that has historically shielded transnational investors from the true environmental costs of agro-industrial expansion.

Broader Economic, Ecological, and Diplomatic Implications

The ongoing prosecution of foreign-backed corporations carries significant implications for Indonesia’s economy, international trade relations, and environmental diplomacy.

From an ecological perspective, the destruction of tens of thousands of hectares of forest and carbon-rich peatlands releases monumental quantities of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, undermining national commitments to carbon emission reduction targets under the Paris Agreement. Furthermore, the loss of biodiversity and the destruction of indigenous habitats threaten irreplaceable regional ecosystems.

Economically, aggressive law enforcement sends a powerful signal to global financial markets and multinational investors. While some analysts caution that strict regulatory crackdowns and permit revocations could create short-term uncertainty for foreign direct investment in the agricultural sector, proponents argue that enforcing rigorous environmental standards is essential for long-term sustainable development. Certified sustainable palm oil and adherence to Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) criteria are increasingly mandatory for accessing lucrative Western and European export markets. Failure to crack down on rogue corporations could expose Indonesian agricultural exports to severe trade barriers, such as the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR).

Diplomatically, proactive prosecution of cross-border corporate entities demonstrates Indonesia’s sovereignty and commitment to regional environmental stewardship. By holding foreign financiers and parent companies accountable under domestic penal codes, Jakarta is establishing a robust legal precedent that corporate wealth—regardless of its geographic origin—does not exempt entities from the rule of law or the duty of environmental care.

As the Directorate of Special Criminal Investigation in South Kalimantan and Bareskrim Polri continue their forensic examinations, the legal outcomes of these 13 corporate suspect cases will likely serve as a defining benchmark for Indonesia’s environmental jurisprudence in the years to come.