Indonesia’s energy ministry was not consulted before President Prabowo Subianto decided to revoke the permit of a China-backed hydroelectric power plant on the island of Sumatra, an official at the ministry, Eniya Listiani Dewi, said on Thursday.
The government said on Tuesday that it had revoked the permits of 28 firms accused of environmental breaches that worsened last year’s deadly floods in Sumatra.
The firms include PT North Sumatra Hydro Energy (NSHE), which operates the Batangtoru hydropower facility. The company is controlled by China’s state-run SDIC Power Holdings Co. Ltd.
Eniya Listiani Dewi told reporters that she hadn’t been informed why the plant’s permit had been cancelled, or what kind of permit it was.
The hydropower project, worth over $1.6 billion, has long been on the radar of environmental activists, with many calling for it to be stopped because of the ecological destruction it has wrought on the biodiverse island.
The presidential office and NSHE did not immediately respond to requests for comments.
The energy ministry is part of the forestry task force and must have been involved in the decision-making process, the task force’s spokesperson, Barita Simanjuntak, told Reuters on Thursday.
