In Indonesia, environmental laws result in the loss of permits for a gold mine and a power plant owned by China.

The Jakarta government revoked permits for 28 companies on Tuesday. They were accused of environmental violations that worsened the floods in 'last year.

Floods and landslides caused by a cyclone on the island Sumatra late in November killed over 1,200 people and destroyed homes. Over a million people were displaced. Environmental experts say the destruction was exacerbated by deforestation rampantly carried out to make room for mines and plantations.

The President Prabowo revoked on Tuesday the permits of 28 companies involved in forestry and oil palm, cocoa and power generation as well as mining. PT North Sumatra Hydro Energy, PT Agincourt Resources, and PT Toba Pulp Lestari were among the 28 firms.

According to Indonesia's State Utility Firm, the Chinese SDIC Power Holdings Co. Ltd. controls NHSE, which is responsible for?the Batangtoru Hydropower Plant.

Environmental activists have long called for the project to be stopped due to the environmental destruction that it has caused on the island.

Before the floods the project was expected to be fully operational at the end of the year. It will have an installed capacity of 510 Megawatts.

SDIC Power failed to respond immediately to an email requesting comment. NHSE and PowerChina were not available for comment.

Huang He, the China consulate general for North Sumatra told local media on Monday that the Batangtoru Plant was built in accordance with Indonesian law. He also expressed his hope that the company could resume its activities.

On Wednesday, Toba Pulp said that it would seek clarifications from the government as it assessed the impact of the decision on its business.

In a filing to the stock exchange, it stated that "this government statement could impact the timber harvesting which is the primary raw material for the company's product."

Agincourt of Astra International, which operates Martabe's gold and silver mine, did not comment immediately on Wednesday. It had previously said that linking its operations with the disaster of last November was "premature".

The revocation of permits was not immediately apparent.

Director executive Boy Jerry Sembiring of the environmental group WALHI called on the government to ensure that companies restore the degraded forest. He added that assets should not be sold to other owners.

According to David Gaveau of Nusantara Atlas, the deforestation monitoring organization, Sumatra lost 11 million acres (4.4 million hectares) of forest between 2001 and 2024. This is an area larger than Switzerland.

The images of hundreds and hundreds of logs being washed downriver by floodwaters last year caused a stir amongst Indoensians across the archipelago. Reporting by Fransiska Nanangoy and Bernadette Cristina; Editing by Gibran Pishimam and David Stanway

(source: Reuters)