Industry Minister Airlangga Hartarto: Our Objective is to Save the Industry

Protests continue against the policy of the environment and forestry ministry on restoring cultivated land back to its original peatland condition. The protests come from not only from those in the plantation business and commercial forest industry, but also from a number of governors concerned with the impact on their local economies. Complaints surfaced after Industry Minister Airlangga Hartarto sent a letter to Indonesian President Joko Widodo at the end of last March. It laid out the potential losses to the industry if the regulation on restoring peat land was put into effect. This is about business certainty," Airlangga told Tempo reporters Agus Supriyanto, Wayan Agus Purnomo and Ayu Primasandi, last week. During the interview, Airlangga was accompanied by the director-general of agroindustry, Panggah Susanto.