Indonesian regulator gets 12 years’ jail for palm oil permit bribery

JAKARTA — A court in Indonesia’s Riau province, the country’s palm oil heartland, has sentenced a high-ranking official to 12 years in prison for taking bribes in exchange for issuing or renewing plantation permits. The court in Pekanbaru, the provincial capital, found on Aug. 31 that Muhammad Syahrir, the former head of the Riau land […]

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Court ruling spares Papua forest from further clearing for palm oil

JAKARTA — An Indonesian court has upheld a government decision to curb the expansion of a multibillion-dollar oil palm plantation project in the country’s easternmost region of Papua. In its Sept. 9 ruling, the Jakarta State Administrative Court rejected lawsuits filed by two plantation companies that are part of the Tanah Merah mega plantation project, […]

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Indonesia permit payoff raises alarm about palm oil industry corruption

JAKARTA — A million-dollar bribery case in Indonesia’s Riau province, the country’s palm oil heartland, has prompted calls for a wider investigation into corruption between business players and the local officials tasked with policing their operations. Prosecutors at a court in Pekanbaru, the provincial capital, are seeking an 11.5-year sentence for Muhammad Syahrir, the former […]

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When Indonesia retook land from developers, it gave them a solid case to sue

JAKARTA — The Indonesian government has opened itself up to litigation by unilaterally revoking hundreds of permits for logging concessions, plantations and mines, according to environmental law experts. The revocations were ordered in early January by President Joko Widodo, and include permits issued by the Ministry of Environment and Forestry for 192 logging, plantation, mining and ecotourism […]

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Raid against Sumatran official uncovers use of slave labor on oil palm farm

JAKARTA — A sting by anti-corruption officers in Indonesia’s North Sumatra province has uncovered evidence that a powerful local official allegedly used slave labor on his oil palm plantation. Agents from the KPK, Indonesia’s anti-corruption commission, found 48 men locked up in barred cells during a raid on Jan. 18 at the residential compound of […]

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Indonesian official busted over alleged bribe for palm oil permit

Forest illegally cleared for oil palm in Riau Province. Photo by Rhett A ButlerPEKANBARU, Riau — Anti-corruption investigators in Indonesia’s palm oil heartland have arrested a local official for allegedly taking bribes from a palm oil company in exchange for extending its business permit. Officers from the KPK, the national anti-graft agency, have charged Andi Putra, the head of Kuantan Singingi district in Riau province, and Sudarso, general […]

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West Papua revokes quarter of a million hectares of land from palm oil

JAKARTA — Palm oil licenses covering concessions twice the size of Los Angeles have been rescinded by the local government in Indonesia’s West Papua province due to violations by the license holders. The move follows on from a recent license review, carried out by the West Papua government working with the national anti-corruption agency, the […]

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