TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - A civil society coalition in West Kalimantan has filed a class-action lawsuit against the government over ongoing forest and land fires. The representative lawsuit was registered at the Pontianak District Court under case number 292/Pdt.G/2026/PN Ptk.
"Together with community groups from AMAN Kalbar, Catholic Youth, and Laman Punyung Indonesia, we filed a lawsuit regarding the haze in West Kalimantan," said Acting Executive Chair of the Alliance of Indigenous People (AMAN) West Kalimantan Tono when contacted by Tempo on Sunday, September 20, 2026.
According to the court's case tracking system, the plaintiffs include regional officials of the AMAN West Kalimantan, leadership of West Kalimantan Catholic Youth, members of the Laman Punyung Indonesia Association, and Sisilius Rami.
Meanwhile, the defendants listed in the suit are the President, Vice President, Ministry of Forestry, Ministry of Environment/Environmental Management Agency, National Police Chief, Head of the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB), Minister of Health, Minister of Finance, Governor of West Kalimantan, and the West Kalimantan Regional Police Chief. The initial hearing is set for Wednesday, October 7, 2026.
According to a copy of the lawsuit obtained by Tempo, the plaintiffs are asking the judicial panel to grant their requests in full. They specifically urge the panel to declare the current forest fires and surrounding haze in West Kalimantan a national disaster.
Furthermore, the plaintiffs request that the panel order the Minister of Finance to immediately disburse and proportionally allocate the National Disaster Emergency Budget from the state reserve funds. They demand that these funds be transferred directly to the West Kalimantan Provincial Government and affected regency or municipal administrations to finance emergency medical care, weather modification operations, peatland fire suppression, and logistical aid for residents.
The panel is also asked to mandate that all defendants take concrete and comprehensive measures to tackle the national disaster brought on by the fires and haze across West Kalimantan.
Tono expressed hope that the panel of judges would rule in favor of the lawsuit. "The government must take firm and serious action to address the fires in West Kalimantan so they do not recur annually," he said.
He voiced hope that the Ministry of Forestry would audit the scorched forest tracts and take strict action against corporate concessions where fires occurred. He also urged the Ministry of Environment to re-evaluate Environmental Impact Assessments (AMDAL) given the damage inflicted on peatlands by the blazes. Additionally, he stressed that public health issues and economic disruptions facing local communities must be mitigated, alongside ecological restoration of the degraded land.
West Kalimantan Residents Inhale Haze
Maria, Coordinator of the Indonesian Society of Environmental Journalists (SIEJ) in West Kalimantan, stated that the forest and land fires have subjected residents across several districts to thick haze for nearly two months. She pointed out that air quality in the region plunged to dangerous levels once again between September 11 and 13, 2026.
She noted that in Kubu Raya, dense smoke engulfed residential areas situated just 300 meters from active fire locations. "Cases of acute respiratory tract infections (ISPA) surged to between 800 and 1,200 per day," she said in a written statement.
In addition to the degraded air quality, local residents also struggled to secure clean water supplies. According to Maria, community members were forced to rely on brackish water for domestic uses other than drinking.
Furthermore, she highlighted the roughly Rp60 billion allocated by the central government to the West Kalimantan Provincial Government for fire mitigation. Civil society representatives demanded complete transparency regarding these funds, urging that resources be deployed directly to satisfy field operational needs, including emergency posts and frontline personnel. "Local volunteers have been operating (battling the fires) with their own equipment without payment," Maria noted.
Berton SP Panjaitan, Director of Mitigation at the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB), stated that authorities have designated six priority regions for wildfire suppression efforts. Among them is West Kalimantan, where seven active hotspots encompass an area of 122.9 hectares. Firefighters have successfully extinguished 65 hectares within the affected area.
Berton added that visibility in multiple locations across West Kalimantan has dropped below one kilometer, including in Mempawah, Pontianak, Melawi, Sambas, Ketapang, Kubu Raya, Sintang, Kapuas Hulu, and Singkawang. "We hope no new hotspots emerge and that all [existing] blazes can be fully contained today," Berton said on Thursday, September 17, 2026.
Government Efforts
President Prabowo Subianto acknowledged that the forest and land fires raging across Kalimantan are an environmental issue that affects multiple parties. "Although these fires are inside Indonesia, the impact is felt by neighbors, so they want to help us and we acceptit warmly," he said in a video statement.
Prabowo delivered the statement following a meeting with Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and his delegation at his private residence in Hambalang, Bogor, West Java, on Friday, September 18, 2026. During the gathering, both sides discussed strategies to combat the ongoing forest blazes.
"Malaysia has offered its assistance and wishes to help us suppress the forest fires in Kalimantan," Prabowo said. He expressed gratitude in accepting the support offer. He noted that Malaysian authorities plan to dispatch one aircraft, three helicopters, and a firefighting crew of 52 personnel.
According to Tempo archives, Prabowo had previously voiced optimism on August 25, 2026, that the wildfire crisis would be contained within one to two weeks. He made those remarks during an address at the inauguration of a solar power plant (PLTS).
The Gerindra Party Chair maintained that all arms of the central and regional governments, alongside law enforcement and disaster management agencies, have been working cohesively to extinguish the blazes. "I think it has started to be resolved and mitigated in several places," he noted.
Prabowo also instructed National Police Chief General Listyo Sigit Prabowo to mobilize officers across Sumatra and Kalimantan to thoroughly investigate corporate entities suspected of illegal land burning.
"I tell them not to hesitate; if it is clear that they are responsible, we must revoke all their permits, and if necessary, even after revocation, we will still investigate the criminal elements. There will be no mercy from now on," Prabowo declared in a statement on Thursday, September 17, 2026.
Director of Specific Criminal Acts at the Indonesian National Police Criminal Investigation Department (Bareskrim), Brig. Gen. Mohammad Irhamni, announced that investigators have named 162 suspects connected to forest and land fire cases across the archipelago.
"There are a total of 219 cases related to forest and land fires spread across regional police jurisdictions," he told a press conference at the Coordinating Ministry for Political and Security Affairs, broadcast on YouTube on Thursday, September 17, 2026.
Irhamni detailed the cases managed by regional police commands. These include 65 cases handled by the West Kalimantan Police, 57 by Riau Police, 24 by South Sumatra Police, 25 by Central Kalimantan Police, 16 by East Kalimantan Police, 14 by Jambi Police, 9 by South Kalimantan Police, 2 each by Aceh, North Kalimantan, Lampung, and Central Sulawesi Police, and 1 case by South Sulawesi Police.
Out of the total tally, 54 cases remain in preliminary inquiry, while 116 have formally progressed to full investigation. "Out of the total cases, 162 individuals have been designated as suspects," Irhamni concluded.
Read: Why Government Should Watch for Potential Chaos in Kalimantan
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