“We will revoke their business permits, if necessary, if the companies are found guilty of committing the crime of burning [the forest and land],” the senior minister said on Tuesday in Pekanbaru, Riau, as quoted by Antara.

Budi made the statement following a meeting on interinstitutional disaster preparedness efforts, established on March 13 by his office’s forest and peatland fire coordination desk.

Forestry Minister Raja Juli Antoni, National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) head Lt. Gen. Suharyanto, Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) chair Dwikorita Karnawati and Riau Governor Abdul Wahid also attended the meeting.

Budi said his office would work with local administrations and law enforcement institutions to impose tighter monitoring of wildfires and to sanction any private entities found responsible for causing wildfires in Riau and other regions.

“The government is strict about this, that every violation be punished legally. I have already coordinated with the National Police chief and the attorney general to impose strict legal actions,” he added.

He also said businesses should be more active in assisting the government in mitigating forest fires because they had been using forests to make a profit, which made them responsible for forest cultivation and fire prevention during the dry season.