JAKARTA, Jan 27 (Reuters) – Sovereign wealth fund Danantara Indonesia will take over the management of land seized from 28 firms linked to floods and landslides in Sumatra, a spokesperson from the country’s forestry task force told reporters on Tuesday.
President Prabowo Subianto revoked the business permits of the 28 companies last week for alleged environmental breaches that worsened the impact of the deadly floods in Sumatra late last year.
The handover of land is currently taking place, task force spokesperson Barita Simanjuntak said, adding that there will be be a “comprehensive process” to minimise the impact of the permit removals, the task force said, including on workers and surrounding communities.
The affected companies are involved in various sectors, ranging from forestry, oil palm and cocoa as well as power generation and mining.
The area of the land taken over from the 22 plantation and forestry firms on the list was around 1 million hectares (2.47 million acres), the government has previously said.
Danantara did not immediately respond for comment.
(Reporting by Bernadette Christina MuntheWriting by Fransiska Nangoy; Editing by David Stanway)
