Manokwari, Jubi – The presence of the Forest Area Enforcement Task Force (Satgas PKH) in Teluk Bintuni Regency, West Papua Province, has come under criticism after an activist said it has failed to protect Indigenous land rights.

The statement was made by Sulianto Alias, director of the Papua advocacy group Panah Papua, following allegations that the customary land of the Ateta clan in Aroba Village, Aroba District, Teluk Bintuni Regency, has been appropriated by oil palm plantation company PT Borneo Subur Prima (PT BSP).

Alias said that continued activities on the disputed customary land following the Forest Task Force’s revocation of PT Varita Majutama’s plantation concession appeared to undermine the authority of Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, who established the task force.

“The land that was seized on March 7, 2026, had already been marked with official signboards announcing the revocation of PT Varita Majutama’s forest area release permit, covering 32,278 hectares,” Alias said on Thursday.

According to him, the signboards prohibit anyone from entering the area without permission, damaging property, looting, stealing, embezzling, harvesting forest products, trading, or occupying the land without authorization from the relevant authorities.

“Those prohibitions appear to have been ignored. Despite the revocation of the permit by the Forest Task Force, PT Borneo Subur Prima has continued its operations,” he said.

“Moreover, both the provincial and regency governments have continued issuing permits, while the Teluk Bintuni Land Office has proceeded with land measurements.”

Alias said the Teluk Bintuni Land Office had carried out cadastral surveys for a Right-to-Cultivate (Hak Guna Usaha, or HGU) title application by PT BSP in Aroba Village.

The cadastral survey is intended to determine the exact location, boundaries, size, shape, and geographic coordinates of land proposed for an HGU concession.

“Given that the Ministry of Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning/National Land Agency (ATR/BPN) is represented on the task force, it is deeply regrettable that land measurements are being carried out in an area where PT Varita Majutama’s permit has already been revoked. It appears to involve a member of the task force itself through the head of the Teluk Bintuni Land Office,” Alias said.

He further alleged that, in addition to the head of the Teluk Bintuni Land Office, the head of the West Papua Provincial Forestry Office had also issued a Timber Utilization Approval (PKKNK) to PT BSP.

The permit, numbered 500.4.4.33/77/DISHUT-PB/2026, was reportedly issued in the name of PT Borneo Subur Prima 1.

“Since field measurements have already been carried out, it is almost certain that environmental recommendations and plantation business permits from the Regent of Teluk Bintuni have also been issued,” he said.

Alias added that forest clearing for PT BSP’s plantation development and nursery operations had already begun, while logging roads had reportedly been opened to facilitate timber harvesting.

His organization urged the Forest Task Force, as an extension of the President’s authority, to investigate the matter, adding that local communities would continue monitoring the case.

“We will see how strong the Forest Task Force really is. Whether it genuinely enforces forest regulations or instead serves oligarchic interests that have exploited Indonesia’s natural wealth,” Alias said.

Earlier, Rizky, Head of Division V at the West Papua Provincial Land Office, acknowledged that the Ateta clan had opposed PT BSP’s planned oil palm plantation from the outset.

“Yesterday, the Regional Land Office’s Survey Division completed boundary measurements for the HGU application submitted by PT BSP and the Producers’ Cooperative. The land involved was acquired from the Yawena, Kasina, and Susure Alias clans—not from the Ateta clan,” Rizky said.

Meanwhile, Benidiktus Ateta, head of the Ateta clan, reaffirmed that his community would never surrender any portion of its customary land for oil palm plantation development.

“I formally removed PT BSP’s boundary markers through a customary ritual. If the government and the company want to evict me, destroy my home, kill me and my family, only then can they clear my forest,” Benidiktus Ateta said while removing the company’s boundary stakes. (*)