Arya News - The government assessed that there were relations between activities of the three companies with natural disasters affecting several regions in North Sumatra.
MEDAN – The Environment Ministry has temporarily halted the operations of four companies working in the upstream Batang Toru river basin area following the devastating floods and landslides in North Sumatra.
The four companies are private gold miner PT Agincourt Resources, state-owned plantation firm PT Perkebunan (PN) III, independent power producer PT North Sumatera Hydro Energy (NSHE) and palm oil company PT Sago Nauli.
Environment Minister Hanif Faisol Nurofiq said the decision was made because the companies were suspected of playing a significant role in exacerbating the flooding in North Sumatra.
“We are investigating eight companies operating in the area. Four have been suspended, and we will conduct environmental audits of their operations. Our team is also conducting on-site verification of the remaining four,” he said on Monday, as quoted by Kompas.com.
The decision followed the minister’s inspection of the Batang Toru river basin and Garoga on Friday, part of an effort to determine the causes of the disaster and to assess whether business activities had heightened flood and landslide risks.
Hanif stressed the importance of an overall evaluation of all business activities around the river basin area, especially with extreme rain, reaching more than 300 millimeters per day.
He added that the government would tighten verification of environmental approval and spatial planning suitability for all activities on steep slopes, in upstream river basin areas and river channels.
He threatened legal action if there were violations that added to disaster risks.
“We will not hesitate to take stern action against any violations. Enforcement of environmental laws are the main instrument to protect the public from preventable disasters,” Hanif said last week
The deputy for environmental law enforcement at the ministry, Rizal Irawan, said aerial surveillance showed massive land clearing, which increased pressures on the river basin area and triggered riverbank erosion and which was accompanied by the flow of large numbers of felled trees.
“From the helicopter overview, it is very clear where land had been cleared for a hydropower plant, industrial forest plantations, mining and palm oil plantations,” he said.
“These pressures led to felled trees being carried down during flash floods and landslides.”
Rizal said his office would expand surveillance of Batang Toru, Garoga and other river basin areas in North Sumatra.
Agincourt Resources corporate communications manager Katarina Siburian Hardono said the company had yet to receive any letter of suspension of its activities. However, she acknowledged it had received a letter from the ministry’s law enforcement division summoning the company for data and information verification.
“We have not received the letter to suspend our operations so we cannot provide a response,” she told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.
“What we have received is a summons from the ministry’s law enforcement division for information and data verification.”
Katarina said the company was ready to provide needed data and information and fully supported the government’s measures in assessing and supervising mining activities.
Meanwhile, PN III vice president for corporate communication Dahlia Mutiara Chairuman said the company had met all operational requirements, including securing government permits and completing its environmental impact assessment (Amdal).
“The company is strongly committed to sustainable plantation management practices,” Dahlia told Kompas.com on Tuesday.
NSHE’s social and communications manager, Arie Dedy, explained that the Batang Toru Hydropower Plant (PLTA Batang Toru), which the company manages in the Batang Toru river basin, remains under construction.
“However, we would like to emphasize that although PLTA Batang Toru is still in its construction phase, all activities continue to prioritize sustainable environmental management principles,” Arie said.
The Post contacted Sago Nauli, but the company was not immediately available for comment.
The northern and western regions of Sumatra have suffered severe devastation after a rare tropical storm formed in the Malacca Strait and unleashed a week of torrential rain and powerful wind gusts, triggering extensive floods and landslides.
According to the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), the heavy rains and flooding affected 1.5 million people across Aceh, North Sumatra and West Sumatra, forcing around 1 million residents to evacuate. As of Wednesday, the natural disaster had claimed 969 lives in the three provinces, with 262 people still missing.
In North Sumatra, 340 people were killed, while 138 remain unaccounted for.