First the forest burns. Then a palm oil plantation appears.

Forests and vast areas of land have been burning in West Kalimantan. When President Prabowo Subianto asked what was happening on the burned land, the head of Indonesia's disaster management agency told him that one of the areas had already been prepared for an oil palm plantation. Prabowo is now asking whether the fires were started deliberately, and whether local people or companies were responsible. Between 1 and 7 September 2026 Indonesia's fires released about 19.7 million tonnes of carbon dioxide, according to the EU's Copernicus monitoring service — more than a third of global wildfire emissions in that period. In Pontianak the air quality index reached 394 on 9 September; 300 is already rated hazardous. Police have arrested 72 people suspected of starting fires, saying most allegedly burned land for agriculture, while investigators also examine possible corporate involvement.

The facts above are reported by the sources listed. What follows is our opinion.

Seriously? They are only surprised now?

This is how the system has worked for years. Someone needs to clear a huge piece of land. Cutting down the forest, removing the trees and hauling everything away is expensive and time-consuming. Burning it is faster and cheaper.

The forest burns. Smoke spreads across the country and into neighbouring states. People cannot breathe, children cannot attend school, and firefighters spend weeks trying to extinguish peatlands that continue burning underground.

When the smoke disappears, the land is ready for another oil palm plantation.

Then the president appears in front of the cameras and asks how the palm trees got there. As if they arrived from outer space.

Now he wants the names of the companies involved. Those names should not be looked for only after the country has burned. The authorities should already know who owns the land, who uses it, who applied for permits and who will profit from the burned ground.

This is how Indonesia fights forest fires. The same areas burn year after year, new plantations continue to appear, and every time the government acts as though it were an unexpected natural disaster.

A fire is not a natural disaster when somebody starts it to clear land cheaply.

The government does not need to wonder why plantations appear after fires. It needs to explain why the same method of destroying the country has continued for years and still pays.

Because while ordinary people breathe the smoke, somebody else is already calculating the next harvest.