Pekanbaru. The Indonesian police have named palm oil company Musim Mas a corporate suspect in an environmental damage investigation involving river areas in Pelalawan Regency, Riau province, authorities said on Monday.

Police also accused the company of violating land-use permits by allegedly planting oil palm trees in protected forest areas without authorization.

Chief Commissioner Ade Kuncoro, director of special crimes at the Riau Police, said a 29,000-hectare plantation managed by Musim Mas overlaps with forest zones.

According to Ade, investigators spent four months examining the case with assistance from multiple experts.

“Our investigation found overlapping coordinates within Musim Mas’ land-use concession area. At the location, we found dead oil palm plantations along river flows. Visually, the plantations did not comply with the minimum six-meter buffer distance from the river,” Ade said during a press conference in Pekanbaru.

Authorities believe the plantation development contributed to recent landslides in the area.

“It can be concluded that environmental and soil damage has occurred. Musim Mas also benefited economically from the plantation activities from 2002 until 2024,” Ade said.

Based on expert calculations, the alleged ecological damage caused by the company’s activities is estimated at Rp 187.86 billion ($10.6 million).

“This ecological damage resulted from oil palm cultivation along river areas within the Musim Mas plantation zone,” he added.

Ade said investigators had questioned 13 witnesses and consulted eight experts from various fields during the investigation.

Musim Mas is being investigated under Indonesia’s 2009 Environmental Protection Law and the Criminal Code, which carry penalties of up to 10 years in prison and fines of up to Rp 10 billion.

The case adds to growing scrutiny of Indonesia’s palm oil industry over environmental management, land-use practices, and deforestation concerns in ecologically sensitive regions.

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