Guthrie On Fire Allegations: No Blazes at Indonesian Estates

PETALING JAYA, Oct 22, 2026: Guthrie has strongly rejected allegations linking its subsidiaries or employees to forest and land fires in Indonesia, saying recent ground inspections found no active fires within any of its estates.

The plantation group said the claims were unsupported by credible evidence and did not reflect findings from its latest checks. It also stressed that several companies named in public reports are neither owned, managed nor controlled by Guthrie, making any attribution to the group inaccurate and misleading.

Guthrie said it has maintained a strict Zero-Burning Policy across all operations since 1985 and adheres to a No Deforestation, No Peat and No Exploitation commitment.

The group said its fire-prevention measures include real-time water-level monitoring, peatland management, community fire-prevention programmes and training for smallholders and local farmers.

Guthrie on fires

Through its Indonesian subsidiary, Minamas Plantation, Guthrie operates 67 firefighting teams comprising 1,005 trained personnel. The teams are supported by drone and infrared monitoring covering plantation concessions and approximately 322,000 hectares of surrounding community land.

The company spends about IDR3.5 billion (RM800,000) monthly to maintain and deploy these resources.

Between January and September this year, the teams responded to and extinguished 2,411 fires, of which 2,376 occurred on community land. Guthrie said its response to fires outside concession boundaries should not be interpreted as evidence of responsibility.

The group added that reports relied on outdated land concession maps and overlooked the fact that palms in the affected areas remain productive and relatively young, leaving no operational rationale for deliberate burning.

Guthrie said it would continue working with Indonesian authorities and stakeholders to prevent fires and protect communities and the environment.

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