“Initial findings suggest the flames may have originated in a storage area containing raw materials for sandal production, including chemicals. However, we do not yet know what triggered the fire,” Tohap said on Wednesday.

An environmental NGO has called for an overhaul of the sector after at least 15 artisanal gold miners were killed in accidents this month alone, while the national anti-money laundering has highlighted that the illegal activity led to billions of dollars in losses over the past two years.

Reduced water supplies from upstream areas trigger a drastic decline in groundwater level, causing residents’ shallow wells to no longer produce water.”

Environmental organizations, including the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi), attributed the severe impact of the Senyar Cyclone to large-scale deforestation and weak enforcement of environmental regulations in Sumatra Island.

Indonesian Navy chief of staff Adm. Muhammad Ali said that 19 Marine Corps personnel were still missing.

Rescuers have been scouring the unstable area in West Bandung region manually and using heavy equipment. But they are treading carefully for fear of another landslide due to bad weather.

Deputy Minister of Primary and Secondary Education Atip Latipulhayat said a total of 4,859 schools across three provinces were damaged by floods in Sumatra.

Changes in an island's shoreline can lead to the changes in basepoints for maritime border with neighboring countries. 

“Our whole family, including our two children, participated directly in planting, arranging and caring for the trees. We didn’t rely on any outside workers. Planting trees is easy, but taking care of them is the hard part,” Rosita said.

Poor oversight of plantations and urban developments have reduced water absorption capacity, a factor academics and environmental groups say contributed to a deadly landslide in Pasirlangu village in West Bandung, West Java.

Around 7,000 families are currently living illegally inside Tesso Nilo National Park, which is internationally recognized as a critical habitat for the endangered Sumatran tiger and elephant.

Three other defendants in the same case received life sentences, despite prosecutors also demanding death penalties.

Search efforts continued for dozens of people missing in a deadly landslide in the disaster-prone Pasirlangu village in West Bandung regency, West Java, as the number of fatalities from the natural disaster climbed to 17.

The birds were smuggled onboard a truck crossing from neighboring Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, without proper documents. 

The officers were involved in border patrol training at the time of the landslide, Navy Chief Admiral Muhammad Ali said, adding that heavy equipment was not able to reach the disaster zone due to bad weather.

Rescuers said they were treading carefully, fearing another landslide due to the unstable ground and bad weather.

Four containers of electronic waste have finally been re-exported from Batu Amprt Port in Batam, Riau Islands, to their country of origin, the United States.

Flooding and landslides that were triggered by torrential rains have continued to paralyze parts of Java and disrupt traffic and public service, with the worst single disaster killing at least nine people and leaving more than 80 missing in West Java.

Environmentalists, experts and the government have pointed to the role forest loss played in the flooding and landslides across islands in Indonesia.

BNPB spokesperson Abdul Muhari, said more than 29,600 temporary houses have been requested for evacuees across the three affected provinces. However, as of Wednesday, only 1,056 temporary houses have been completed, while 7,414 are still under construction.

KPK spokesperson Budi Prasetyo said investigators also searched the Pati Bapermades (village empowerment agency as part of the operation.

The ATR 42-500 turboprop owned by aviation group Indonesia Air Transport (IAT) lost contact  with air traffic control on Saturday at about 1:30 p.m. local time (0530 GMT) around the Maros region in South Sulawesi.

There were seven crew members and three passengers on board the plane, which was chartered by the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry to conduct air surveillance on its fisheries. The passengers were ministry staff members.

The crash came less than two months after four people were killed when a car was struck by a train at an unguarded railway crossing in Pasuruan regency, East Java, on Nov. 30. 

Despite regulations banning the export of tin ore unless it is refined to 99.99 percent, there have been still many attempts to smuggle raw tin abroad.

PT North Sumatera Hydro Energy, the developer of Batang Toru hydropower plant in South Tapanuli regency, North Sumatra, has had its business permit repealed as the government takes action against companies allegedly linked to deforestation that exacerbated northern Sumatra's floods and landslides.

Bali police spokesperson Sr. Comr. Ariasandy said the arrest underscored Indonesia’s strong commitment to international law enforcement cooperation.

The tail section of the aircraft itself, however, was located in a remote and difficult-to-access area, requiring three days to reach, Dody added.

Riau Governor SF Hariyanto said small-scale mining in Kuantan Singingi must be urgently brought under control to safeguard the Kuantan River, a vital water source for the province that supports around one million people. The river has long been polluted by illegal gold mining, which uses hazardous chemicals such as mercury in the extraction process.

The Riau Islands provincial capital of Tanjungpingan is not a rice producing city but managed to send rice to South Sumatra's capital of Palembang, which enjoyed a surplus of 1.5 million tonnes of rice.