President Prabowo Subianto's administration has revoked licenses for 28 companies operating in Sumatra following devastating floods that killed dozens, but the Palace has confirmed the firms may continue operations - a decision that encapsulates Indonesia's perennial tension between environmental protection and economic necessity.
"The Palace has no problem with companies whose licenses were revoked still operating in Sumatra," a government spokesman told Kompas, explaining that allowing operations to continue would protect jobs even as the administration demonstrates accountability for the disaster.
The floods, which struck Sumatra's industrial zones in mid-January, left more than 40 dead and displaced thousands across provinces where palm oil, pulp, and mining operations have transformed once-forested watersheds into denuded slopes prone to landslides and flash flooding. Environmental groups have long warned that deforestation upstream exacerbates flooding downstream, turning seasonal rains into catastrophic inundations.
Prabowo, who took office in October pledging to balance Indonesia's economic transformation with environmental sustainability, faces a test of that promise. The 28 companies - many involved in plantation agriculture and extractive industries - operated in watersheds that feed rivers now prone to overflow. Revoking their licenses signals accountability; allowing them to keep working signals pragmatism, or perhaps capitulation to economic reality.
The decision reflects Indonesia's broader struggle as the world's fourth most populous nation seeks to lift millions into the middle class while managing the world's third-largest rainforest. Indonesia has pledged to reach net-zero emissions by 2060, but economic pressures - particularly the need to create jobs for a young, growing population - often override environmental enforcement.
For the families of those killed in the floods, the government's stance offers little comfort. Sumatra, home to 59 million people, has seen repeated flood disasters as land-use changes accelerate. The island's deforestation rate remains among the highest in Southeast Asia, driven by palm oil expansion and pulp plantations that convert rainforest into monoculture.
Prabowo's environmental record is being closely watched. His early moves included suspending new mining permits and ordering environmental reviews, but this week's decision to revoke licenses while allowing operations suggests enforcement may remain selective. The president's advisers have argued that abrupt closures would harm workers and communities dependent on these industries, a calculation that prioritizes immediate economic stability over longer-term environmental protection.
Ten countries, 700 million people, one region - and for Indonesia, the choice between stopping the chainsaws and keeping the jobs is never simple, even when the bodies are being pulled from the mudslides.
