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Prabowo Orders Permit Revocations Over Forest-Fire Firms

8/26/2026

Summary

Prabowo Orders Revocation

President Prabowo Subianto ordered revocation of business permits for firms linked to forest fires.
Police arrested 72 suspects accused of deliberately burning land for plantations.
Environment Ministry recorded a record 5,102 fire hotspots in August, with South Sumatra highest at 1,429.
Malaysia and Indonesia agreed to use Indonesian airspace for cross-border cloud-seeding to curb haze.
Nearly 600 schools in Sarawak closed, affecting about 200,000 students due to unhealthy air.

Summary

Ministries Underfund

The Forestry Ministry allocated only Rp145.9 billion to the 2026 fire-control program, about 2 % of its Rp6 trillion budget.
The Environment Ministry gave Rp15.75 billion for peatland protection, roughly 1.13 % of its Rp1.4 trillion budget.
NGO Pantau Gambut found 70 % of inspected canal blocks damaged, leaving 52 % of sites below safe groundwater levels.
A Nature Communications study estimates restoring 2.49 million hectares could prevent US$8.4 billion in fire-related damages.

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Prabowo Orders Revocation

President Prabowo Subianto ordered revocation of business permits for firms linked to forest fires.
Police arrested 72 suspects accused of deliberately burning land for plantations.
Environment Ministry recorded a record 5,102 fire hotspots in August, with South Sumatra highest at 1,429.
Malaysia and Indonesia agreed to use Indonesian airspace for cross-border cloud-seeding to curb haze.
Nearly 600 schools in Sarawak closed, affecting about 200,000 students due to unhealthy air.

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