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Jobs Law insufficient to replace palm oil ban, activists say
With no signs of an extension of the oil palm concession moratorium, environmentalists are worried that the 2020 Job Creation Law and the implementing regulations that are supposed to supplant the ban might run counter to its original spirit, by giving amnesty to plantations in forest areas.
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In this undated aerial photo, an oil palm plantation in Bulutumbang, Belitung stretches into the horizon. The government has decided not to renew a 2018 moratorium on oil palm concessions that lapsed on Sept. 19, 2021, at the behest of environmentalists. (JP/Donny Fernando)
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ndonesia’s moratorium on new oil palm plantations, which has been a bright spot in a murky defense of the nation’s most valuable commodity, lapsed on Sunday.
And with no sign of a possible extension, environmental activists are worried that the 2020 Job Creation Law and the implementing regulations that are supposed to supplant the ban might run counter to its original spirit, giving amnesty to plantations in forest areas instead.
The moratorium ended exactly three years after President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo issued Presidential Instruction (Inpres) No. 8/2018, in response to widespread concerns about environmental violations, land conflicts and labor-rights abuses within the palm oil industry.
The ban mandated the suspension of new concessions, depriving palm oil players of a way to legally clear more land. The moratorium also required that existing licenses be reviewed no later than three years after issuance.
But the government is now saying that the ban is no longer relevant, especially after the Jobs Law and related provisions were passed.
Lawmakers enacted the so-called omnibus law in October, 2020, overhauling the nation’s business-licensing regimes and with them the management of oil palm concessions. Immediately after the Jobs Law was put into effect, officials started drafting and issuing dozens of implementing regulations. Chief among them was Government Regulation (PP) No. 24/2021, which details administrative sanctions in the forestry sector such as fines for oil palm plantations encroaching on forest areas.
However, many remain unconvinced that the provisions are sufficient to replace the moratorium, especially in terms of the periodical review of existing licenses.
