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View all search resultsGovernment sues firms over environmental damage linked to Sumatra floods
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Villagers cut logs on December 4, 2025, that were washed away by a flash flood, intending to use them as material to rebuild their damaged homes in Garoga, North Sumatra. (AFP/YT Hariono)
T
he government has filed lawsuits against six private companies it believes contributed to massive environmental degradation in North Sumatra following deadly floodings in the region, a move critics say must be followed by stronger commitments to environmental restoration and governance reform.
The Environment Ministry announced last week that it had sued companies, identified as PT NSHE, PT AR, PT TPL, PT PN, PT MST and PT TBS, for allegedly damaging areas near key watersheds in North Sumatra. Six separate civil lawsuits have been registered at the Medan, South Jakarta and Central Jakarta district courts.
The lawsuits follow investigations by a government-sanctioned task force into illegal logging and unregulated concessions suspected of worsening cyclone-triggered floods and landslides that hit Aceh, North Sumatra and West Sumatra in late November last year.
Environment Minister Hanif Faisol Nurofiq acknowledged that severe environmental degradation in the region had amplified the disaster’s impact on local communities, leaving many residents without livelihoods and a sense of security amid persistent ecological threats, thus justifying legal action against those deemed responsible.
“The state must not remain silent when the environment is damaged and the people are left to bear the consequences alone,” Hanif said in a statement.
“We firmly uphold the principle that violators must pay. Any corporation that profits from damaging ecosystems bears absolute liability to restore them,” he added.
Read also: Sumatra flood deaths exceed 1,000 as regions extend emergency status
