Indonesia sues six companies over environmental harm in flood zones 

Indonesia’s government has filed multiple lawsuits seeking more than $200m in damages against six firms, after deadly floods wreaked havoc across Sumatra, killing more than 1,000 people last year, although environmentalists criticised the moves as inadequate.

Environmentalists, experts and the government pointed the finger at deforestation for its role in last year’s disaster that washed torrents of mud and wooden logs into villages across the northwestern part of the island.

The government is seeking 4.8 trillion rupiah ($283.8m) from six companies accused of unspecified damage to an area spanning more than 2,500 hectares, the Ministry of Environment said on Thursday.

The sum represents both fines for damage and the proposed monetary value of recovery efforts.

The suits were filed to courts on Thursday in Jakarta and North Sumatra’s Medan, the ministry added.

“We firmly uphold the principle of polluter pays,” Environment Minister Hanif Faisol Nurofiq said in a statement.

He added that any corporation that “profits by damaging the ecosystem must be held fully responsible for restoring it”.

The Environment Ministry declined to offer more details when speaking with the AFP news agency on the alleged damage caused by the defendants, listed in the statement only by their initials.

The Indonesia Business Post reported that the ministry is also conducting environmental audits on more than 100 companies operating in the provinces of North Sumatra, West Sumatra and Aceh, quoting Nurofiq as saying that potential criminal suspects will be identified after the audits are completed.

Separately, a task force comprised of the military, police, Attorney General’s Office, and ministries has identified 12 companies suspected of contributing to flash floods and landslides in Sumatra, The Indonesia Business Post said.

Environmental groups say the government also holds some responsibility when granting companies the right to raze large tracts of land.

Greenpeace Indonesia’s forest campaigner Arie Rompas called the lawsuits a “minimalist” move, adding that authorities should comprehensively review policies responsible for the disaster.

“Besides the impact of the climate crisis, the flooding was also caused by land degradation, including deforestation, carried out by corporations,” Arie told AFP.

“Those companies were granted permits by the government.”

Mining, plantations, and fires have caused the clearance of large tracts of lush Indonesian rainforest over recent decades.

More than 240,000 hectares of primary forest were lost in 2024, according to analysis by conservation start-up The TreeMap’s Nusantara Atlas project.

Forestry Minister Raja Juli Antoni said last month that the government will revoke 22 forestry permits across the country, including permits that encompass more than 100,000 hectares in Sumatra.

Antoni did not specify whether the decision was linked to the disaster, though he earlier said that the floods provide an opportunity to “evaluate our policies”.

The “pendulum between the economy and ecology seems to have swung too far towards the economy and needs to be pulled back to the centre,” Antoni said at the time.