Jakarta, IO – President Prabowo Subianto called for tougher legal sanctions against those responsible for forest and land fires, including the possibility of classifying such acts as “ecological terrorism.”

He emphasized that wildfires have become a critical issue requiring decisive legal enforcement and stronger regulatory frameworks.

The directive was delivered during a hybrid limited-format cabinet meeting on national disaster management, held at the Merdeka Palace on Wednesday. During the meeting, the head of state received status updates on active fire suppression efforts alongside mitigation plans for the next six weeks, a period expected to remain high-risk.

Prabowo instructed State Secretariat and Law Ministry to thoroughly examine current penalty provisions for perpetrators. Strengthening these rules, he noted, could involve legislative amendments in coordination with the House to amend the law to classify this as “ecological terrorism.”

“This is extremely serious,” he stressed.

His stern stance stems partly from the far-reaching impact of wildfires, which extends beyond domestic borders to affect neighboring countries. The President stressed that the government has maximized mitigation efforts to prevent Indonesian forest fires from disrupting neighboring nations.

“We have worked to our absolute maximum to mitigate these issues,” he said.

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Furthermore, Prabowo ordered the immediate revocation of any bylaws (perda) that still permit controlled burning for land clearing, adding that national laws could be toughened if necessary.

“Revoke those local regulations immediately. The Home Ministry must ensure this, and if needed, I say we toughen the national law,” he emphatically said.

The president firmly asserted that land clearing through burning must cease entirely, dismissing traditional exceptions. He assured that the government stands ready to assist communities with land preparation so that burning is no longer an option.

“I have said there should be no excuses regarding local wisdom or similar reasons—I believe those are just pretexts. If the people need help clearing land, we will assist them. But this practice must end. There should be no more forest burning for land clearing or any other reason,” he said.

Through regulatory reform, rigorous law enforcement, and direct community support, Prabowo reaffirmed the government’s commitment to uprooting forest and land burning practices entirely. (des)