Enviro News Asia, Jakarta — The case of forest encroachment involving the use of heavy machinery in the Limited Production Forest Area (HPT) of Bagan Besar, Dumai City, Riau Province, which has been investigated by the Forestry Law Enforcement (Gakkum), has entered the trial phase at the Dumai District Court.
The Public Prosecutor has demanded that the suspect, NHP (55), be sentenced to four (4) years in prison and fined IDR 1,500,000,000 (one billion five hundred million rupiah), with a subsidiary sentence of six (6) months’ imprisonment. Meanwhile, one (1) unit of heavy equipment, an excavator, has been requested to be confiscated by the state in the court hearing held on April 28, 2025.
In a press release from the Ministry of Forestry of the Republic of Indonesia, it was explained that the case originated from a Forest Security Operation conducted by the Sumatra Forestry Law Enforcement Agency, Section II Pekanbaru, on September 23, 2024.
During the operation, authorities secured one (1) unit of heavy equipment, an excavator, suspected of creating drainage ditches and conducting land clearing within the HPT Bagan Besar area, Bukit Kapur region, Dumai City, Riau Province.
While the operation team was transporting the excavator out of the forest area, they encountered an individual with the initials NHP (55 years old), a resident of Sunggal, Medan, North Sumatra.
Upon interrogation, he was identified as the manager of the land where the excavator had been operating. After an investigation by the Civil Servant Investigators (PPNS) of the Sumatra Forestry Law Enforcement Agency, the case was declared complete (P-21) by the Riau High Prosecutor’s Office and was transferred to the Dumai District Prosecutor’s Office on December 24, 2024, for trial.
The Head of the Sumatra Forestry Law Enforcement Agency, Hari Novianto, emphasized the agency’s commitment and determination to protect forest areas from destruction and criminal activity.
“Perpetrators of crimes who profit by damaging forests, harming communities, and causing state losses must not be tolerated. They must be punished to the fullest extent to serve as a deterrent,” he stated. *
