Minister Of Transportation: Operations Of The Forest Control Task Force Guided To Article 33 Of The Constitution

Minister of Transportation Raja Juli Antoni gave a statement at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta, Monday (3/2/2025). BETWEEN/Genta Tenri Mawangi.

JAKARTA - The Minister of Forestry (Menhut) Raja Juli Antoni said Article 33 of the Basic Law (UUD) was a guideline in carrying out the Forest Area Control Task Force led by the Minister of Defense (Menhan) Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin.

Article 33 of the Constitution that President Prabowo Subianto has always emphasized on various occasions, namely regulating the Indonesian economy, including natural resources controlled by the state.

"I hope that with this new task force, Article 33 which has always been President Prabowo's 'stressing' can be used as a guideline for carrying out this task force. So this is nothing personal," said Raja Juli when giving a statement at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta, Monday, February 3, was confiscated by Antara.

Raja Juli appreciated the establishment of the Forest Area Control Task Force, because forest management, especially from the palm oil industry, has been a problem for decades.

In fact, the 7th President of the Republic of Indonesia, Joko Widodo, has also formed a similar task force by appointing Luhut Binsar Panjaitan, who at that time was the Head of the Steering Committee for the Oil Palm Industry Governance and Optimizing State Revenue.

"This is a problem that has been implemented, it has already happened 20-30 years. Finally, Mr. Jokowi also made a task force led by Mr. Luhut. I (as) the deputy chief executive. I have worked hard but not finished yet," said Raja Juli.

He added that the task force formed by President Prabowo through Presidential Regulation (Perpres) Number 5 of 2025 concerning Forest Area Control, is trying to optimize forest functions for the welfare of the community.

The formation of this task force, said Raja Juli, did not intend to deter certain palm oil companies.

"Mr. Prabowo at that time stated that there were no problems, let alone anger or revenge. But solely to bring Article 33 closer, the end of which is to maximize our land function," said Raja Juli.

Based on the information gathered, the Forest Area Control Task Force was led by the Minister of Defense Sjafrie Sjamsoeddin as the Chief Director, then the Deputy Attorney General for Special Crimes (Jampidsus) Febrie Adriansyah became the Chief Executive.

This task force will be tasked with controlling forest areas through collection of administrative fines, re-control of forest areas and asset recovery in forest areas.