Governance of Confiscated Palm Oil Plantations Managed by PT. Agrinas Palma Nusantara Needs Immediate Evaluation
Author,Jacob Ereste
Freelance Journalist
PT. Agrinas Palma Nusantara (Persero) is often mistakenly considered the same as PT. Agrinas (Agro Industri Nasional), even though they are two different entities. Although both are private companies operating in the agricultural and agro-industrial sectors, PT. Agrinas Palma Nusantara is a state-owned enterprise (BUMN) that also focuses on oil palm plantations and construction consulting. It manages oil palm land confiscated by the state from palm oil plantation companies that violate laws and regulations, such as forest encroachment. Furthermore, PT. Agrinas Palma Nusantara supports the national bioenergy program, with a majority stake held by the government through Danantara. Danantara itself can be considered a kind of custodian of funds from several state-owned enterprises to prevent them from being scattered and misused.
The management of PT. Agrinas Palma Nusantara (Persero)’s President Director is Lieutenant General (Ret.) Agus Sutomo. Cucu Sumantri is the Director of Plantations; Bachtiar Utomo is the Director of Human Resources & General Affairs; M. Wais Fanshuri is the Director of Finance and Risk Management; Edin Slamet Irianto is the Director of Business and Industrial Development; Gagah Guntur Aribowo is the Director of Construction Consultants; and Ospin Sembiring is the Director of Operations; and Wisnoe Prasetja Boedi is the President Commissioner.
PT. Agrinas Palma Nusantara is a transformation of PT. Indra Karya (Persero), which now focuses on managing state-confiscated oil palm plantations to support renewable energy programs through biofuel. The functions and roles of PT. Agrinas Palma Nusantara (Persero) include managing state-confiscated oil palm plantations, supporting energy self-sufficiency, promoting national food and energy security, transforming from a construction consultancy to a plantation, and maintaining socio-economic functions and professionally managing state assets.
PT. Agrinas Palma Nusantara (Persero) carries out a strategic function to support the government’s program to achieve energy self-sufficiency through green energy, or renewable energy, produced from palm oil processing products, to produce biofuel/biodiesel as an environmentally friendly alternative energy source for the Indonesian people. The government has transferred a majority stake in Agrinas to the Indonesian Classification Bureau as part of the formation of a state-owned enterprise holding company in the food and green energy sector under Danantara. Agrinas itself has become a strategic state-owned enterprise in the energy transition and food security.
In short, PT. Agrinas Palma Nusantara’s strategic approach is not only intended to contribute to national energy but also to support a circular economy and sustainable development based on Indonesia’s own potential. Since January 2025, PT. Agrinas Palma Nasional (Persero), through Government Regulation No. 3 of 2025, has expanded its business into the plantation sector, with two main lines of business: construction consulting and oil palm plantations. Since March 2025, PT Agrinas Palma Nusantara has been mandated to manage 221,000 hectares of confiscated oil palm plantations in West Kalimantan and Riau. By the end of March 2025, it had acquired an additional 216,997 hectares of confiscated land. This brings the total confiscated oil palm plantation managed by PT Agrinas Palma Nusantara to 438,000 hectares.
A subsequent issue that arose in the field was the status of workers and employees of the confiscated plantations, leaving them uncertain and uncertain. Ideally, these confiscated oil palm plantations should continue operating, including maintenance and harvesting, personnel administration, finances, and plantation maintenance, ensuring they continue to generate income for both workers and employees, as well as the government itself, through the performance of PT Agrinas Palma Nasional, the holder of the mandate and mandate to manage these confiscated oil palm plantations.
So the problem is, an evaluation of the governance of the 438,000 hectares of confiscated oil palm plantations is needed, as it is feared that this could create new problems in unclear and non-transparent governance for the continuation of thousands—perhaps even millions—of hectares in the future, considering that many of the palm oil companies committing the primary violation of forest land encroachment have yet to face legal proceedings for their violations. Furthermore, the management of PT. Agrinas Palma Nusantara itself is highly vulnerable to violations and abuses in its work practices in the field.**
Pondok Labu, July 13, 2025
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