Indonesia’s Supreme Court Ruling on Brantas River Pollution Remains Unimplemented, Environmental Groups Warn of Ongoing Ecological and Public Health Crisis

Recycling industries arbitrarily dispose of their waste, polluting 
The Brantas River due to weak government oversight

Gresik, Indonesia – 1 February 2026 Environmental coalition POSKO IJO has raised serious concerns over the Indonesian government’s failure to implement a final and binding Supreme Court ruling related to the mass fish deaths in the Brantas River, one of East Java’s most critical river basins.

On 21 August 2025, the Supreme Court of the Republic of Indonesia issued Judicial Review Decision No. 821 PK/Pdt/2025, rejecting the petitions filed by the Minister of Public Works and the Governor of East Java. The ruling reaffirmed earlier decisions by the Surabaya District Court (No. 08/Pdt.G/2019/PN.Sby), the East Java High Court, and Supreme Court Decision No. 1190 K/Pdt/2024, which ordered the government to take concrete actions to address industrial pollution following repeated incidents of mass fish mortality in the Brantas River.

Despite its final and legally binding (inkracht) status, the ruling has yet to be comprehensively implemented. POSKO IJO warns that this non-compliance represents a dangerous precedent, exposing a widening gap between judicial authority and executive action in Indonesia.

“This is not merely a case of delayed bureaucracy. It reflects a systemic failure to uphold the rule of law and to protect the right of communities to a healthy environment,”

said Rulli Mustika Adya, public interest lawyer and legal counsel for Ecoton, the environmental organization that filed the lawsuit.

From Court Victory to Policy Paralysis

The court ruling outlines ten specific obligations for the government, including public apologies, ecosystem restoration funding, installation of pollution monitoring systems, administrative sanctions against polluting industries, and transparent disclosure of water quality data.

However, an evaluation conducted by POSKO IJO indicates that, as of 2025:

• Implementation remains partial and largely administrative;
• Pollution data is not publicly accessible;
• Enforcement against industrial polluters is weak and inconsistent;
• Public participation in environmental oversight is minimal.

“These failures allow industries along the Brantas River Basin to continue discharging untreated waste with little consequence, while communities bear the ecological and health impacts,” Rulli added.

Pollution Treated as an ‘Incident,’ Not a Systemic Crisis

POSKO IJO emphasizes that the Supreme Court ruling should have marked a turning point—from a project-based river management approach to a comprehensive ecosystem restoration framework. Instead, pollution continues to be treated as isolated incidents rather than a structural governance failure.

In the context of World Wetlands Day, POSKO IJO calls on the Governor of East Java and the Minister of Public Works to:

• Prioritize pollution control in the Brantas River Basin;
• Allocate clear and dedicated budgets for river restoration;
• Enforce administrative sanctions, including permit revocation, against repeat offenders.

“There is a growing perception that industrial investment is prioritized over ecological integrity and public health. This results in law enforcement that is harsh on affected communities but lenient toward powerful polluters,”

Rulli Mustika Adya stated.

Key Policy Recommendations

POSKO IJO urges the Indonesian government to take immediate steps to:

1. Establish an independent, multi-stakeholder task force mandated by the Supreme Court ruling;
2. Ensure full public access to industrial outlet CCTV footage and real-time water quality monitoring data;
3. Integrate the Supreme Court ruling into regional development and budgeting frameworks (RPJMD and RKPD);
4. Apply progressive administrative sanctions to industrial polluters, up to license revocation.

Without urgent action, POSKO IJO warns that continued inaction will not only prolong the ecological degradation of the Brantas River, but also undermine Indonesia’s commitments to environmental justice, human rights, and the rule of law.

Evaluation Matrix of the Implementation of Surabaya District Court Decision No. 08/Pdt.G/2019/PN.Sby

No	Court Order	Implementation Target	Implementation Status (as of 2025)	Critical Notes
1	Official public apology	Public statement by the government to Brantas Basin communities	Not implemented	No open apology in national/local media
2	Restoration budgeting	Brantas restoration programs included in national/regional budgets	Partial	Budget not specifically allocated for water quality restoration
3	Waste outlet CCTV	CCTV installed at all industrial waste outlets	Very limited	Only some industries; not transparent
4	Independent DLH audit	Audit involving the public & academics	Not implemented	Oversight remains internal to government
5	Warnings to industries	Official warning letters to all industries	Partial	No publicly available list of industries
6	Administrative sanctions	Warnings up to permit revocation	Weak	Dominated by guidance, minimal strict sanctions
7	Water quality monitoring	Real-time monitoring devices at outlets	Limited	Data not publicly accessible
8	Public health education	Campaigns on risks of contaminated fish & water	Sporadic	Not sustained
9	DLH–industry coordination	Regular reporting & evaluation system	Formalistic	Ineffective in preventing pollution
10	Oversight task force	Active cross-sector task force	Suboptimal	Minimal civil society involvement