Blame game erupts between Jakarta and provinces as Indonesia fires rage

Demonstrators take part in a protest against the government's handling of wildfires and calling for an end to corruption and nepotism, as protesters marked two years of President Prabowo Subianto and Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka's administration, in Bandung, West Java Province, Indonesia, October 20, 2026. - Photo: Reuters

JAKARTA: A blame game has erupted between some of Indonesia’s provincial authorities and the central government as forest fires scorch Kalimantan and Sumatra.

Central Kalimantan’s administration under Governor Agustiar Sabran, pressed by Jakarta to step up firefighting, has publicly complained that forest concession permits are issued by the central government, while the provincial authorities and residents are left to deal with the fires.

Similar complaints have not been publicly voiced by provincial leaders in Sumatra.

Since the 2020 Job Creation Law centralised licensing powers, authority over business activities in forest areas has rested largely with Jakarta.

The row has now spilt onto the streets, with protest rallies held by the students of a few universities in Central Kalimantan, piling further pressure on the local government.

Protesters from the Central Kalimantan People Fighting Alliance demand government action on forest and land fires in Palangka Raya, on Oct 19. - Photo: AFP

On Monday (Oct 19), a female university student led a protest outside the governor’s office in Palangka Raya, where she urged Agustiar to take bolder measures, including pressing the central government to declare the fires a national disaster. A TikTok video of the protest, with 26,000 likes and 888 comments as at the morning of Oct 20, has since circulated widely.

“We have suffered greatly for more than four months,” she said at the gate of the office.

She then mocked a banner that read: “Central Kalimantan free of haze 2026. Preventing forest fires starts with us”, emphasising that both the provincial and central governments had been warned about the intensity of this year’s El Nino since February, but failed to take action.

Agustiar listened calmly, surrounded by his deputies, aides and police officers, but did not respond. He promised to return to answer the protesters after praying, but he never reappeared, angering the students.

The protesters’ demands went to the heart of the dispute. Among them was a call for provincial governments to regain the power to revoke companies’ concession permits. However, this would be a long, drawn-out process through Parliament and unlikely to succeed.

In September 2026, Joni Harta, head of Central Kalimantan’s environment agency, said in a video posted on Instagram that drew 55,000 likes and more than 5,000 comments: “When the forest burns, why is Central Kalimantan province told to put out the fire? Why are the people of Central Kalimantan told to put it out? Not a single permit in forest areas was issued by the province. Should we be the ones putting it out?”

“Don’t pass the buck and blame my governor whenever something happens,” he added.

Riot police stand guard during a protest against the government's handling of wildfires and calling for an end to corruption and nepotism, as protesters marked two years of President Prabowo Subianto and Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka's administration, in Bandung, West Java Province, Indonesia, October 20, 2026. - Photo: Reuters

Joni also urged the Forestry Ministry to release funds owed to the province under the revenue-sharing scheme for a reforestation fund. “That money is our right. The central government should not hold it back,” he said.

His agency, he said, had done what it could within its responsibilities, putting up banners and campaigning against land burning. “We monitor companies that got permits from the central government but have no firefighting equipment, and we will certainly sanction them. But our budget is not enough.”

He added that the agency, and the Environment Ministry, were dealing with seven errant companies.

The Forestry Ministry has pushed back, insisting that fire prevention and control are shared responsibilities.

Responding to Joni’s remarks, the ministry’s public relations chief, Ristianto Pribadi, said on Sept 23 that fire management is a joint undertaking of the central and regional governments, law enforcement, businesses and communities, with authority determined by where a fire occurs, the status of the land, the type of business and the permits held.

He noted that environmental approvals for companies and their supervision fall to the Environment Ministry or provincial environment agencies, depending on their respective powers, a role that includes Joni’s own office. He said the Forestry Ministry oversees permit holders’ compliance in forest areas, including their fire-control obligations.

Putra Saptian, a senior campaigner at peatland-focused non-governmental organisation Pantau Gambut, agreed, arguing that regional and provincial governments retain significant authority.

“The claim that all responsibility shifted to the central government in 2020 is regarded as a fallacy,” he told The Straits Times, pointing out that provinces continue to have the authority to designate which land any company with a concession is entitled to operate on, and that provinces continue to have the power to halt operations of companies that breach a law.

The ministry has also moved to show it is acting against companies. In September 2026, it revoked the permits of five companies in West, South and Central Kalimantan, covering concessions totalling 92,464ha. On Oct 20, it said it had imposed administrative sanctions on 32 companies over 12,926ha of burnt land across seven provinces, and was handling suspected criminal cases against 125 individuals and corporations.

Police officers spray water to extinguish a wildfire burning close to a residential structure in Tegal Arum, Banjarbaru, South Kalimantan, on October 20, 2026. Indonesian wildfires that have caused a regional haze crisis burned more than 1.9 million hectares in the first nine months of 2026, a monitor analysing satellite data said on October 19. - Photo: AFP

Who is ultimately responsible?

The dispute raises questions about who is ultimately accountable for resolving fires in Indonesia, whose recurring haze crises have consequences far beyond its borders, particularly for Singapore and Malaysia.

Writing on news site Maklumat on Oct 18, Abdul Khalid Boyan, a social and political analyst at Universitas Arya Wangsa, argued that since the 2020 law moved forestry licensing to Jakarta, the permits that serve as the main tool of oversight are located in the capital, hundreds to thousands of kilometres away from areas where fires could potentially spark. That distance, he wrote, delays the detection of violations and allows each side to shift responsibility.

But he did not spare the regions, noting that permits were handed out freely amid local political interests before centralisation in 2020. The answer, he argued, lies not in choosing between Jakarta and the provinces, but in ensuring that whoever holds authority can be held to account.

And early detection and action are also key.

Haze-hit residents in Sumatra and Kalimantan are urging President Prabowo Subianto to replace police chiefs and territorial military commanders in regions where fires have spread out of control.

They argue that stopping small fires from becoming major blazes requires early detection and rapid intervention, and that only the police and military, with personnel deployed down to the village level, have the reach to do this effectively.

“The military and police have resources and people across provinces and regencies. They can carry out prevention,” Ponco Pramono, 46, owner of a shrimp paste noodle shop in Palembang, South Sumatra, told ST on Oct 16.

He added: “Previously (under then President Joko Widodo), we understood there was a policy that provincial police chiefs and regional military commanders would be replaced if fires in their areas spread out of control. That is no longer the policy now under President Prabowo.”

Adi Siswoyo, 43, a farmer in Banjarbaru, South Kalimantan, said: “A field police officer (during the Widodo administration) confided that he could do little during the dry season besides patrol and hunt for hot spots, because his superior feared being replaced.” Adi said it is no longer the case under Prabowo, who took office in October 2024.

But in a possible sign of change, during a visit to Riau on Aug 24, Prabowo praised the province’s military commander, Major General Agus Hadi Waluyo, and police chief Inspector-General Herry Heryawan, and promised both promotions if the fires there were brought to an end. - The Straits Times/ANN

Thank you for your report!

Indonesia's burned land doubles in September as fires rage, data shows

Indonesia to exclude 80 highly concentrated stocks from benchmark index

Indonesia goes nuclear, with reactors just 3,000km from KL

2026年10月20日，在印度尼西亚西爪哇省万隆市，示威者举行抗议活动，反对政府应对山火不力，并呼吁结束腐败和裙带关系。此次抗议活动也标志着普拉博沃·苏比安托总统和吉布兰·拉卡布明·拉卡副总统执政两周年。——图片：路透社

雅加达：随着森林大火肆虐加里曼丹岛和苏门答腊岛，印尼一些省级政府与中央政府之间爆发了相互指责的局面。

在雅加达施压要求加强灭火工作的中加里曼丹省省长阿古斯蒂亚·萨布兰领导下的省政府公开抱怨，森林特许经营许可证是由中央政府发放的，而应对火灾的责任却落在了省政府和居民身上。

苏门答腊省的领导人尚未公开表达过类似的抱怨。

自 2020 年《创造就业法》将许可权集中化以来，森林地区的商业活动管理权主要掌握在雅加达手中。

这场争端如今已蔓延至街头，中加里曼丹几所大学的学生举行了抗议集会，给当地政府带来了更大的压力。

10月19日，中加里曼丹人民战斗联盟的抗议者在帕朗卡拉亚要求政府对森林和土地火灾采取行动。——图片：法新社

10月19日（星期一），一名女大学生在帕朗卡拉亚省长办公室外组织了一场抗议活动，敦促省长阿古斯蒂亚采取更强有力的措施，包括向中央政府施压，要求宣布火灾为国家灾难。截至10月20日上午，这段抗议活动的TikTok视频已获得2.6万个赞和888条评论，并在网络上广泛传播。

“我们已经遭受了四个多月的巨大痛苦，”她在办公室门口说道。

随后，她嘲讽了一条横幅，上面写着：“2026年中加里曼丹摆脱雾霾。预防森林火灾要从我们做起”，并强调省政府和中央政府早在2月份就已收到关于今年厄尔尼诺现象强度的警告，但却未能采取行动。

奥古斯蒂亚尔在副手、助手和警察的簇拥下平静地听着，但没有回应。他承诺祈祷后会回来回答抗议者的问题，但他再也没有出现，这激怒了学生。

抗议者的诉求直指争议核心。其中一项诉求是要求省级政府重新获得撤销企业特许经营权的权力。然而，这需要经过议会漫长而繁琐的程序，而且不太可能成功。

2026年9月，中加里曼丹省环境局局长乔尼·哈塔在Instagram上发布了一段视频，获得了5.5万个赞和5000多条评论。他在视频中说道：“森林着火了，为什么让中加里曼丹省来灭火？为什么让中加里曼丹人民来灭火？省政府没有发放任何森林地区的灭火许可证。难道我们应该自己去灭火吗？”

“不要推卸责任，一发生什么事就怪罪我的州长，”他补充道。

2026年10月20日，在印度尼西亚西爪哇省万隆市，防暴警察在抗议活动中站岗，抗议者们谴责政府对山火的处理方式，并呼吁结束腐败和裙带关系。抗议者们同时也在纪念总统普拉博沃·苏比安托和副总统吉布兰·拉卡布明·拉卡执政两周年。——图片：路透社

乔尼还敦促林业部发放根据收入分成计划应拨付给该省的植树造林基金。“这笔钱是我们应得的，中央政府不应该扣留它，”他说。

他说，他的机构已在职责范围内尽力而为，张贴横幅，开展反对焚烧土地的宣传活动。“我们会监控那些从中央政府获得许可却没有消防设备的公司，我们一定会对他们进行处罚。但我们的预算不够。”

他还补充说，该机构和环境部正在处理七家违规公司。

林业部对此予以反驳，坚持认为防火和控制是各方共同的责任。

针对乔尼的言论，该部公共关系负责人里斯蒂安托·普里巴迪于9月23日表示，消防管理是中央和地方政府、执法部门、企业和社区的共同责任，其权限取决于火灾发生的地点、土地状况、企业类型和所持有的许可证。

他指出，企业的环境审批和监管由环境部或省级环境机构负责，具体取决于各自的职权范围，乔尼的办公室也承担这项职责。他还表示，林业部负责监督许可证持有者在林区内的合规情况，包括其防火义务。

专注于泥炭地的非政府组织 Pantau Gambut 的高级活动家 Putra Saptian 对此表示赞同，他认为地区和省级政府仍然拥有相当大的权力。

“认为所有责任在 2020 年都转移到了中央政府的说法是谬论，”他告诉《海峡时报》，并指出各省仍然有权指定任何拥有特许经营权的公司有权在哪些土地上经营，而且各省仍然有权停止违反法律的公司的运营。

该部还采取行动表明其正在对相关企业采取行动。2026年9月，该部吊销了西加里曼丹、南加里曼丹和中加里曼丹五家公司的许可证，涉及特许经营权总面积达92,464公顷。10月20日，该部表示已对32家公司处以行政处罚，这些公司涉嫌在七个省份烧毁12,926公顷土地；此外，该部还在处理针对125名个人和企业的涉嫌刑事案件。

2026年10月20日，在南加里曼丹省班贾尔巴鲁县德加尔阿鲁姆镇，警察用水扑灭一处靠近居民区的野火。据一家分析卫星数据的监测机构10月19日发布的数据显示，印尼野火引发的区域性雾霾危机在2026年前九个月已烧毁超过190万公顷土地。——图片：法新社

谁应为此负责？

这场争端引发了人们对谁最终应该为解决印尼的火灾负责的疑问。印尼反复发生的烟霾危机的影响远远超出其国界，特别是对新加坡和马来西亚的影响。

阿卜杜勒·哈立德·博扬（Abdul Khalid Boyan）是阿雅旺萨大学（Universitas Arya Wangsa）的社会政治分析师，他于10月18日在新闻网站Maklumat上撰文指出，自2020年法律将林业许可证发放机构迁至雅加达以来，作为主要监管工具的许可证都设在首都，距离可能发生火灾的地区数百甚至数千公里。他写道，这种距离会延误违规行为的发现，并使各方能够推卸责任。

但他并没有放过地方政府，指出在2020年中央集权之前，地方政治利益驱动下，许可证发放随意。他认为，解决之道不在于在雅加达和各省之间做出选择，而在于确保任何掌权者都能被追究责任。

早期发现和采取行动也至关重要。

苏门答腊和加里曼丹受烟霾影响的居民敦促总统普拉博沃·苏比安托更换火灾失控地区的警察局长和地方军事指挥官。

他们认为，要防止小火演变成大火，需要及早发现并迅速干预，而只有警察和军队，以及部署到村庄一级的人员，才能有效地做到这一点。

“军警在各省市都有资源和人员。他们可以开展预防工作，”46岁的庞科·普拉莫诺（Ponco Pramono）在南苏门答腊省巨港市经营一家虾酱面店，他于10月16日告诉《海峡时报》。

他补充道：“此前（在佐科·维多多总统执政期间），我们了解到，如果省警察局长和地区军事指挥官所在区域的火势失控蔓延，他们将被撤换。但现在在普拉博沃总统执政期间，这项政策已经不再适用。”

来自南加里曼丹省班贾尔巴鲁的43岁农民阿迪·西斯沃约说：“（佐科·维多多执政时期）一位野战警察曾私下告诉我，旱季期间除了巡逻和搜寻热点地区，他几乎无事可做，因为他的上级担心被撤换。”阿迪说，这种情况在普拉博沃于2024年10月上任后已经改变。

但或许是形势有所转变的迹象，普拉博沃8月24日访问廖内省期间，赞扬了该省军事指挥官阿古斯·哈迪·瓦卢约少将和警察总监赫里·赫里亚万，并承诺如果当地火灾得到控制，将晋升二人。——《海峡时报》/亚洲新闻网

感谢您的报告！

数据显示，印尼9月份过火面积翻了一番，山火肆虐。

印尼将从基准指数中剔除80只高度集中的股票

印尼将发展核能，反应堆距离吉隆坡仅3000公里