PALM OIL & MINING MORATORIUM: Government Asked to Review Existing Permits

Secretary General at Gerbang Tani Idham Arsyad said that the moratorium effort toward oil palm and mining plantation permits was a strategic step which deserved support. He added that both sectors had caused various problems, such as environmental damage, poverty, and agraria conflicts.

Nonetheless, Idham stated that another thing that had to be done was to review the existing permits. “Not only [an] oil palm and mining permit moratorium, but a review on existing permits is also necessary,” he said on Tuesday (4/19/2016) in Jakarta.

He also stressed the necessity to further involve community figures in the moratorium supervision. Idham added that this is because there were allegedly many loopholes that could be used by certain parties that caused deforestation to take place.