Supreme Court Orders Revocation of Lampung Gubernatorial Regulation which Legalizes Burning of Sugarcane Land

The Lampung Governor's regulation legalizing the burning of sugarcane fields is considered to benefit companies and harm residents.

KOMPAS/PRADIPTA PANDU MUSTIKA

Supreme Court Building.

BANDAR LAMPUNG, KOMPAS – Supreme Court ordered the revocation of Lampung Governor Regulation Number 33 of 2020 concerning Harvest Management and Sugarcane Crop Productivity as amended with Lampung Governor's Regulation Number 19 of 2023. Apart from being in conflict with a number of regulations, the governor's regulation which legalizes the burning of sugar cane fields is considered to have the potential to cause environmental pollution.

This is stated in the Supreme Court Decision (MA) Number 1P/HUM/2024 regarding a material test case submitted by environmental supervisory officials from the Directorate General of Environmental Law Enforcement and Forestry of the Ministry of Environment and Forestry (KLHK) along with community elements.

In their verdict, the panel of judges led by Supreme Judge Yulius found that the gubernatorial regulation was in contradiction with several regulations, including Law No. 32 of 2009 concerning Environmental Protection and Management and Law No. 22 of 2019 concerning Sustainable Agricultural Cultivation Systems.

In addition, the local regulation is also in conflict with the Minister of Agriculture Regulation Number 53/Permentan/KB.110/10/2015 on Guidelines for Good Cane Cultivation and Permentan No. 05/Permentan/KB.410/1/2018 on Opening and/or Processing Plantation Land without Burning.

KOMPAS/ICHWAN SUSANTO

Director General of Law Enforcement at the Ministry of Environment and Forestry Rasio Ridho Sani, accompanied by Director of Criminal Law Enforcement at the Ministry, Yazid Nurhuda (left), spoke to the media on Monday, April 29, 2019 in Jakarta, regarding the handling of environmental crimes cases that they oversee.

The Director General of Law Enforcement for Environmental and Forestry Affairs at the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, Rasio Ridho Sani, appreciated the decision of the Supreme Court (MA) to grant the material test request. He believed that the local regulation in question seemed to benefit sugarcane plantation companies.

According to Rasio, harvesting sugar cane by burning may indeed save on harvesting costs. However, this action triggers the release of greenhouse gas emissions as well as environmental damage and pollution. In addition, public health can also be disrupted due to smoke and dust particles.

Also read: Illegal Hunting Triggers Forest Fires in Lampung

"The Governor of Lampung's policy of facilitating or allowing sugar cane harvesting by burning must be revoked. "This policy has benefited companies financially at the expense of the environment, society, and is detrimental to the state, and is contrary to the law," said Ratio in an official statement received by Kompas, Monday (20/5/2024) .

According to him, Gakkum KLHK supervisors and the community have filed a material test against the governor's regulation to stop practices that harm the environment, society, and the state. Currently, the KLHK is calculating the total environmental losses to prepare for further legal steps.

KOMPAS/RHAMA PURNA JATI

Officials from the Regional Disaster Management Agency in Ogan Ilir, South Sumatra, sprayed water onto the burning land in the district on August 6, 2019.

The Director of Complaint Handling, Monitoring, and Administrative Sanctions at the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, Ardyanto Nugroho, stated that based on the monitoring of hotspots, several sugarcane plantations in Lampung are suspected of conducting land burning.

Based on surveillance results in 2023, the area of sugarcane fields burned is estimated to reach 14,492.64 hectares. The amount of burned land has increased compared to 2021, which was 5,469.38 hectares.

Also read: Land fires in South Sumatra are increasingly massive

According to Ardyanto, the ruling by the Supreme Court indicates that harvesting sugarcane by burning land is an illegal act. Therefore, the Ministry of Environment and Forestry is currently investigating the environmental damage caused by the practice of burning sugarcane fields to take action against those who violate the law.

Executive Director of the Indonesian Environmental Forum (Walhi) Lampung, Irfan Tri Musri, stated that civil society organizations and environmental observer communities in Lampung have not been involved in the drafting of the regional regulation.

"We were never invited to participate in public consultations or testing to discuss the policy. The governor's regulation suddenly appeared at the beginning of his term and was later revised," said Irfan.

KOMPAS/ADRIAN FAJRIANSYAH

A land fire occurred on the side of the road across from Kilometer 193 of the Lampung-South Sumatra Toll Road in Bujung Sari Marga, Pagar Dewa District, West Tulang Bawang Regency, Lampung Province, on Monday (23/10/2023).

According to Irfan, Walhi Lampung has received reports from a number of residents around the sugarcane plantation areas affected by land burning activities, including in Way Kanan and Tulang Bawang regencies. According to residents, the dust from the burning of sugarcane fields enters residential areas and disrupts public health.

Irfan added that Walhi Lampung is also currently investigating the distribution of fire hotspots in the concession areas of several sugarcane plantations in Lampung. He suspects that the distribution of fire hotspots in the company's concession areas is expanding due to the policy.

Also read: Fires Hit Forests and Land in Conservation Areas

This policy has benefited companies financially at the expense of the environment, society, and is detrimental to the state, and is contrary to law.

"After this regional regulation is revoked, we hope that the future leaders of Lampung will no longer issue policies that harm the environment and society," he said.

When confirmed, Assistant I for Government and Public Welfare in the Lampung Provincial Government, Qodratul Ikhwan, admitted that he had not studied the MA's decision in detail. Therefore, he stated that he could not provide a further response.

KOMPAS/RHAMA PURNA JATI

The Directorate General of Law Enforcement of the Ministry of Environment and Forestry has sealed off the burned land in the sugarcane company PT DGS's concession in Tulung Selapan District, Ogan Komering Ilir District, South Sumatra, on Thursday (3/10/2019).

The Head of the Communication, Information, and Statistics Agency of Lampung, Achmad Saefullah, stated that the Lampung Provincial Government will soon discuss the Supreme Court's decision. The Lampung Provincial Government will also review what steps will be taken regarding the decision.

The Supreme Court's verdict stated that the Governor of Lampung, represented by his legal counsel Irwan Sukri Banuwa, had provided a written response to the Supreme Court on January 29, 2024. In the response, the respondent stated that the process of sugarcane plantation burning had been regulated with planned and controlled methods.

Land burning is also carried out by minimizing ember jumps, limiting the burning area to 10 hectares per plot with a maximum time of 20 minutes, paying attention to a minimum distance of 1 kilometer between the burning location and residential areas, and prohibited from harvesting sugarcane on peat or wetlands.