A startup company has started to clear rainforest in an area, specifically in the easternmost Papua province of Indonesia. This particular rainforest is earmarked as the would-be location for the largest palm plantation of the world, in an enormous project that has been delayed in accusations of breaking the law.
When completed, this project, also called the Tanah Merah, will produce an approximate $6 billion "in timber and develop a plantation nearly double the size of London," at the center of the hugest territory of intact rainforest, said to be left in Asia.
In addition, the new plantation will emit a massive amount of carbon dioxide into the air, just in time for Indonesia's commitment to reduce emissions coming from deforestation.
Since last year, specifically in March, the Digoel Agri Group, a company which a Jakarta family that's connected to politics and now supported by an investor from New Zealand founded, has bulldozed about 420 acres of rainforest in a portion of the said project formerly spared from land clearing.
In connection to this, the company's clearing operation amounts to a 280,000 hectare-fraction, allotted for the project, which is currently being controlled by various conglomerates.
However, this particular movement signals that "deforestation can swiftly accelerate, following a decade of untruthful beginnings by other investors.
Several Changes, Different Investors
Since its initial conception in 2007, changes have been made several times already, in terms of the rights to the Tanah Merah. The said changes have involved a string of investors who have already deployed crude, as well as complex company secrecy tactics to conceal their identities.
Additionally, the licensing procedure for this plantation project has also been inundated by some irregularities. Meanwhile, a cross-border investigation which Mongabay, Tempo and The Gecko Project made, and was published in 2018, unveiled that key certifications which an elected official signed, was concurrently serving a jail sentence for misappropriating funds of the state.
Furthermore, two firms, mostly owned by anonymous companies listed in the United Arab Emirates, started operations as based on the said permits, to the land's northern part, currently held by the Digoel Agri.
And, responding to the written questions sent by Mongabay and The Gecko Project, the companies denied the allegations that they were using falsified permits. On the said paper, the involvement of Digoel Agri in the project signifies a clean disruption from such accusations.
Digoel Agri's Side of the Story
Jackson Iqbql de Hesselle, a member of the Rumangkang family which is responsible for the existence of Dgoel Agri, claimed the company's operations were legal. He added, they were obediently following the rules.
However, while no apparent connection between this company and the past investors, is the capacity to operate is partially forecasted on the reportedly compromised licensing procedure that took place before.
In addition, the lawful basis of the activities of Digoel Agri rests partially on rulings rezoning land to permit the development which the Ministry of Forestry issued in 2012 after the former investors requested the permit.
