JAKARTA : The Indonesian government on Friday handed over 674,178 hectares (2,603 square miles) of palm oil plantations to state firm Agrinas Palma Nusantara, taking the total area given to the company so far to 1.5 million hectares.
The latest handover solidifies Agrinas’ status as the world’s largest palm oil company by land size. A government task force said Agrinas now has the capacity to produce 5.7 million metric tons of palm oil per year.
Indonesia has been conducting a crackdown on the illegal use of forest, targeting plantations and mining areas.
Another 1.8 million hectares seized from illegal operators by a government task force are also currently being verified prior to being handed over to Agrinas at a later stage, said Febrie Adriansyah, a senior prosecutor at the Attorney’s General Office.
Meanwhile, the task force will soon start calculating and collecting fines from plantation companies illegally operating in forest areas, Febrie added.
