Prabowo Pushes for Stricter Penalties for Forest Fire Offenders, Classifying as 'Ecological Terrorism'

President Prabowo Subianto of Indonesia has urged for the strengthening of legal sanctions against perpetrators of forest and land fires (karhutla), suggesting the possibility of classifying such acts as 'ecological terrorism.' The president highlighted the seriousness of the karhutla issue, emphasizing the need for more decisive legal action and regulatory reinforcement. President Prabowo instructed the Minister of Law and Human Rights and the Minister of State Secretary to examine penalty provisions for karhutla offenders. "I have told them to study this, and we should propose to the DPR to strengthen the law, possibly classifying this as ecological terrorism. This is a very serious matter," Prabowo stated during a limited meeting on disaster management from the Merdeka Palace in Jakarta on Wednesday (16/9). During the meeting, Prabowo received the latest reports on karhutla handling and mitigation steps to face conditions that are expected to remain vulnerable for the next one and a half months. He acknowledged that the smoke from karhutla is not only felt domestically but can also disrupt neighboring countries. President Prabowo stressed that the government has been working to its fullest capacity on mitigation efforts and does not want the impact of Indonesia's forest fires to inconvenience other nations. "We have worked maximally to mitigate these problems," he said. In addition, Prabowo requested that regional regulations that still provide room for land burning be immediately revoked. He opened the possibility of strengthening provisions in national laws. "Let the regional regulations be revoked immediately. The Minister of Home Affairs must ensure this, and if necessary, I say we will strengthen the National Law," he stated. The President also asserted that land clearing by burning must no longer be carried out for any reason. According to the Head of State, if the community needs land clearing, the government is ready to provide assistance so that the practice of burning is no longer an option. "I have said that there should be no excuses like local wisdom and so on; I consider those to be excuses. I have said that if the people need it, we will help clear the land. But this must truly not continue. There should be no more forest fires for land clearing or for any other reason," the President said.