1) EDITORIAL: Defuse Sentani tension

2) Infrastructures to improve Asmat`s quality of life

3) How the son of a tailor rose to power in Indonesia’s palm oil heartland

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http://www.thejakartapost.com/academia/2018/03/22/editorial-defuse-sentani-tension.html

1) EDITORIAL: Defuse Sentani tension

EDITORIAL The Jakarta Post

Jakarta | Thu, March 22, 2018 | 08:14 am

                              The mesmerizing view of Lake Sentani in Jayapura, Papua. (Shutterstock/File)

Authorities in the Papua regency of Jayapura should act fast to defuse the sectarian tension building up in the wake of local Christian church leaders’ objections to the ‘’overly tall’’ minaret of a new mosque in Sentani. It is good to hear local government, police and Muslim authorities’ assurances that there is nothing to worry about because all parties are working on finding a solution. However, the undercurrents remain unknown.

The Christian-majority township showed signs of religious tension last week after the Jayapura Churches Association gave the regency administration until the end of the month to have the minaret of Al-Aqsa Mosque, which is under construction, shortened to the average height of churches in the area. In a petition filed with the local government on March 15, they threatened to take their own action unless the authorities met their demands.

Apparently, the mosque project is only a symptom of simmering conflict between mostly Christian indigenous people and generally better off and more skilled Muslim migrants. In their letter, church leaders also conveyed the complaint that the Muslim community had built the mosque without prior consultation with their neighbors — a mandatory procedure under a joint ministerial decree on construction of places of worship. They also expressed disappointment that their long-standing objections to the blaring call to prayer, the adzan, from mosque loudspeakers have gone unheeded.

Any sign of sectarian conflict in restive Papua, especially, should be handled swiftly yet carefully because of its extremely high sensitivity. The minaret row is only the latest in a string of conflicts fueled by complex social, economic and political problems in the resource-rich territory long beset by secessionist issues.

The influx of migrants that started in 1974 under the state-sponsored transmigration program, and which continues as individual migration, has helped the local economy. But their rising numbers coupled with heavy military presence have caused fear among indigenous people that they are being “colonized”, outnumbered and their culture is being threatened.

That is why in Papua any religiously or ethnically charged conflict has immense incendiary potential. The present ripples recall the ramifications of the 2015 Muslim-Christian clash in Tolikara, southern Papua in which an indigenous resident was allegedly shot dead by police. It triggered retaliatory attacks on churches in Java and exacerbated Papuans’ distrust of the police, whom they suspected of pandering to the migrants.

Christian and Muslim leaders in both Jakarta and Papua should refrain from issuing provocative statements that will only inflame the already tense situation. Influential religious organizations like the Indonesian Ulema Council, Nahdlatul Ulama, the Indonesian Communion of Churches and the government should work hand-inhand in finding a peaceful settlement.

We hope that the government and religious leaders will soon be able to resolve the brewing conflict amicably. If not, the tension could escalate and provide grounds for militants from both religious groups to take the law into their own hands. The police, notoriously trigger-happy when handling rowdy crowds in Papua, should be particularly careful so as not repeat the mistakes of Tolikara.

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https://en.antaranews.com/news/115094/infrastructures-to-improve-asmats-quality-of-life

2) Infrastructures to improve Asmat`s quality of life

Reporter: Bayu Prasetyo  2 hours ago

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The willingness of Indonesian government to develop a number of border, outermost and remote areas in the country is implemented through building basic infrastructure needs to improve the quality of life of the local people.

Current issues of development challenges that should be tackled immediately by the government in Papua are malnutrition and measles that have affected children of Asmat tribe.

It is not about the viral issues, nor building image of the Indonesian government. The most important issue is the development of humanity and equity to the people in Papua.

The adequate infrastructures are considered to be one of the key development in rural areas to upgrade the locals` living quality.

The Minister of Public Works and Public Housing, Basuki Hadimuljono, said during his visit to Asmat District of Papua on March 15, 2018 that the availability of accessible clean water is an essential requirement to improve the environment quality of Asmat District.

The Ministry has the matrix data of the development activities in Asmat District for short to middle terms, such as clean water channel, sanitation, bridges, access road improvement, and houses repairmen, as well as new developed residential complex.

"Most of the region is swamp area. We need to treat the water to make it drinkable. We already have a water reservoir of 1.000 m3. We still need more water, thus we will construct 9 more reservoirs with bigger capacities. Besides, we will also build artesian wells," said Minister.

The people in Asmat District has utilized an artesian well. The ministry will build five more wells with 150-200 meters of depths measured at Rp6 billions of budget.

The drilling equipment has been assembled and ready to be shipped in a whole package.

The visit of Hadimuljono to Asmat District was held by the order of President Joko Widodo, who has asked for the update of the problems in the remote area.

The President is scheduled to visit Asmat when the project was started.

Additionally, the Asmat Head District, Elisa Kambu, explained the extraordinary incidents of measles and malnutrition in Asmat have been resolved.

He expressed his gratitude towards the President for his attention, particularly in the sustainable development of basic needs infrastructure such as clean water, sanitation, waste management, transportation, and houses.

"By better infrastructure availability, I hope no more extraordinary incidents occurred in Asmat," he said.

When visiting the Asmat community, Hadimuljono asked the people to pay more attention to the waste management by not throwing gargabes under the stage houses and put them in the particular place to avoid polluting beaches.

The waste can be managed by implementing 3R system which are consist of "Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle" to make more healthy environment.

In order to support the cleaner living management, the drinking water piping system will be also developed by the government and Non-Governmental Organization.

The City of Agats in Asmat district already has a Drinking Water Supply System (SPAM) with 10 liters/Sec capacity to provide 230 houses which would be optimized in 2018.

Other SPAMs will also be built in Atsy and Sawaerma Sub-districts, which have the capacities of 5 liters/Sec with the operating expense budget around Rp2 billion and Agats city`s SPAM for 10 liters/Sec with Rp5 billion of budget.

Besides, an additional 24 units of SPAM with 1 liter/Sec capacity will be built with an estimated operating budget around Rp39, 7 billion through the Drinking Water Supply and Sanitation Based on Community activity or "Pamsimas".

The Non-Government Organization, National Amil Zakat Board or "Baznas", shared their attention along with the government by constructing the drinking water installation development for Asmat people.

The installation of the drinking water sterilization of Baznas has been built in An-Nur Mosque in Agats Sub-District of Asmat District and was officially operated.

The Distribution Director of Baznas, Mohd Nasir Tajang, said the installation system was funded by the institution and donors.

As an initial stage, a water installation will also be constructed in Asmat Regional Hospital for the community with a cheaper payment system and "barter" program that exhange the waste of drinking water plastic bottles.

The agency hopes Agats Sub-district can be more beautiful, clean and healthier.

The lack of access to clean water has caused many diseases like diarrhea, as well as skin iritating as problems. The issues also triggered the recent extraordinary incidents of measles and malnutrition in Asmat District.

In all this time, people of Asmat have to buy bottled mineral water for their daily need of clean water for cooking in a higher price.

After visiting Kaye Village, Basuki crossed the river to view the construction site of 114 units of special houses that have been built since 2016 at a cost of Rp19.9 billion located in villages of Amanamkai and Syuru, of Agats Sub-district.

The government in 2018 plans to build 100 units of houses in four villages such as 34 units in Priend Village of Fayid Sub-district, 33 units in Ass Village and Atat Village of Pulau Tiga Sub-District, and 33 units in Warkai Village of Betsbamu Sub-district.

The government will also repair houses that are not suitable for habitation by a program of 1,000 self-help houses.

To support the daily activity of Asmat people, the government will also build four suspension bridges with a budget of Rp46 billion located in Baru Syuru Village of Agats Sub-district (72 meters of length), Yerfum Village of Der Koumor Sub-district (84 meters of length), Hainam Village of Kasuari Beach Sub-district (120 meters of length), and Sawaerma Village (150 meters of length).

The construction of infrastructures such as water sterilization, waste management system, adequate houses and bridges is hoped to improve the life quality of people and eliminate the malnutrition cases in Asmat.

(T.B019/B/KR-BSR/B012) 

Editor: Heru Purwanto

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https://news.mongabay.com/2018/03/how-the-son-of-a-tailor-rose-to-power-in-indonesias-palm-oil-heartland/

3) How the son of a tailor rose to power in Indonesia’s palm oil heartland

by The Gecko Project and Mongabay on 22 March 2018

In the leadup to the release of the second installment of Indonesia for Sale, our series examining the corruption behind Indonesia’s deforestation and land-rights crisis, we are republishing the first article in the series, “The Palm Oil Fiefdom.” 

This is the second part of that article. The first part described a secret deal between the son of Darwan Ali, head of Indonesia’s Seruyan district, and Arif Rachmat, CEO of one of Indonesia’s largest palm oil companies. The article can be read in full here.

Indonesia for Sale is co-produced with The Gecko Project, an initiative of the UK-based investigations house Earthsight.

Darwan Ali’s son Ahmad Ruswandi was a 21-year-old university student when thousands of protesters occupied the Indonesian parliament in 1998, demanding the resignation of the aging president Suharto. A regional financial crisis had sent the rupiah into freefall, depriving the dictator of his ability to paper over deep inequalities. Economic growth, as well as a willingness to use the army to impose violent control, had served as the bedrock of his regime. But as the economy collapsed, food supplies dissipated and rioters filled the streets nationwide, he was abandoned by his allies, and finally stood down.

For three decades Suharto had placed whole sectors of the economy in the hands of his relatives and cronies. He was formally charged with embezzling hundreds of millions of dollars in state funds via a network of charities, although he successfully claimed to be too ill to stand trial. A Time magazine investigation estimated that the family had amassed a fortune of $15 billion. Transparency International ranked him as the world’s most corrupt leader.

In the leadership vacuum that followed his resignation, the country threatened to break apart. An implausible nation-state composed of a multitude of ethnically and linguistically diverse people, living across thousands of islands, Indonesia had been held together by military-enforced, highly centralized rule. The bureaucracy had been dominated by Javanese, people from the densely populated island that provided the state with its de facto cultural identity. As their dominance was eroded, long-suppressed identities reemerged as potent forces. Without the heavy center of gravity Suharto had provided in Jakarta, the regions began to spin out of its orbit of control.

The jockeying to replace the authority of the Suharto regime catalyzed sectarian violence across the archipelago. Separatist insurgencies gained steam in Aceh and Papua. Christians and Muslims slaughtered each other in the Maluku Islands. In Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of Borneo, the notion that indigenous Dayaks had been trodden upon was used to foment violence against migrants in the town of Sampit. Everywhere, the goal was control of resources.

The prize in view for those who could clamber their way to the top was a share in the spoils of Indonesia’s immense natural wealth. Its islands sat atop precious metals and fossil fuels, and were coated in tropical rainforests replete with valuable timber. For three decades, everyone had looked on, powerless, as the revenues from exploiting these resources flowed out of the islands, to Jakarta and the personal accounts of Suharto’s family and cronies. Now they were up for grabs.

It was in this turbulent environment that Darwan Ali emerged as a political force. Darwan had grown up in a staunchly Muslim village on the banks of Sembuluh, a sprawling lake at the heart of East Kotawaringin district, in Central Kalimantan, the largest province in Indonesian Borneo. His origins remain mysterious even to those who have studied the area, but an elder man from the same community told us he was born in the early 1950s into an ordinary family. His parents were tailors who also farmed a small plot of rubber, and named their other boys Dardi, Darlen, Darhod and Darwis. By the 1990s Darwan was operating in the district capital, Sampit, at a time when the local economy was overwhelmingly dependent on logging. Precious hardwoods were extracted from jungles that once cloaked the entire island. The timber was floated downstream into Sampit to be processed and exported.

The logging expanded far beyond what could legally or sustainably be harvested. A shadow economy flourished, predicated on hard cash flushing in from a timber trade unlicensed  —  but tacitly endorsed  —  by the local government. Darwan moved in this world, first as a building contractor for infrastructure projects, then as a lobbyist for industry, and finally as a prominent local member of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, or PDIP.

Darwan’s occasional appearances in local newspapers at the time chart his rise as a representative of the business community, pushing back against any efforts to regulate it or curb its worst excesses. He protests the banning of companies from bidding for government projects due to corruption; he earns controversy for gaining an untendered contract to supply schools with furniture; he complains about taxes imposed on the forestry sector, intended to prevent illegal logging. “The overall impression is of a typical Borneo frontier businessman who makes a lot of money in the black economy,” Gerry van Klinken, a University of Amsterdam professor who follows Kalimantan politics closely, told us.

As Jakarta’s hegemony receded, and the grip of Suharto’s circle on natural resources dissipated, the shadow economy and the characters who controlled it came to the fore. A timber mafia coursed into protected areas. Tanjung Puting National Park, a mostly swampy forest teeming with orangutans, leopards and crocodiles, was heavily targeted for its ramin and ironwood trees. One local government agency that attempted to stem the flow of logs had its office burned to the ground. When a journalist reported on the illegal logging of the park, he was soon after jumped upon, hacked with machetes and left for dead in a ditch. He narrowly survived, crippled and disfigured.

Beginning in 1999, Indonesia embarked on an ambitious program of decentralization, transferring a wide range of powers from Jakarta to local bureaucracies in the hope of both heading off separatist urges and making government more accountable. District heads, the bupatis, were granted the authority to enact their own regulations, provided they did not conflict with existing laws. They exercised this authority liberally. One of the first decisions of the East Kotawaringin administration was to begin taxing shipments of illegal logs, tacitly endorsing the shadow economy instead of confronting it.

In 2002 Seruyan, named for the river that flowed through it, was carved out of East Kotawaringin as a new district. The following year Darwan, who was by then the head of the PDIP party in East Kotawaringin, became Seruyan’s first bupati. His jurisdiction stretched some 300 kilometers north from the Java Sea into remote jungles populated sparsely by indigenous Dayaks. Its western edge encompassed part of Tanjung Puting National Park. It was dominated by the lowlands between the park and Sampit, with Lake Sembuluh at its heart. At the turn of the millennium, more than two thirds of the district remained covered in forest. Though it was thinned out by logging, it harboured a wealth of wildlife that could rival most landscapes on earth.

The first generation of empowered bupatis were selected by members of the district parliament. Darwan’s ascent surprised some observers, who saw him as a political novice. He was said to have declared that any bureaucrat who backed his candidacy would rise in rank from echelon one to two, or echelon two to three, and so on, failing to grasp that this would actually constitute a demotion. But he was also viewed as a putra daerah, a “son of the soil,” who would fight for his people. He was awarded a five-year term, half a decade to transform the fortunes of his homeland, before facing his constituents at the ballot box.

By 2003 the district economy was stagnating. The log trade was collapsing under the burden of its own excesses. Lake Sembuluh had been a shipbuilding center that attracted craftspeople from other islands at its height. But the vessels were made from hardwood and for transporting it, and the industry died as the commercial timber dried up. With the most valuable trees already stripped from the forest, Darwan was taking the reins of a district whose heyday as a timber hub, its main source of income, was coming to a close.

Plantations, specifically for oil palm, were the most obvious replacement. The fruit of the oil palm tree yielded an edible fat used in everything from chocolate to laundry detergent and biofuel. The commodity was in increasing demand globally, and the region south of Lake Sembuluh was seen as having great potential for large-scale development of the cash crop. Though it lacked infrastructure, it was close to the port towns of Pangkalanbun and Sampit. District officials imagined the latter as a vibrant transit town, for laborers coming in to work the plantations and palm oil leaving for global markets. Darwan announced plans to invite investors from Hong Kong and Malaysia. He promised a new harbor to facilitate exports and an easing of regulations.

Marianto Sumarto, a local sawmill owner who had joined Darwan’s campaign team in 2003, said the assumption of power by a son of the soil generated hope. “It made people proud,” he told us. “They didn’t know that behind the scenes, he was playing a bigger game.”

Read the entire the story here. And then follow Mongabay and The Gecko Project on Facebook (here and here in English; here and here in Indonesian) for updates on Indonesia for Sale. You can also visit The Gecko Project’s own site, in English or Indonesian. Read the article introducing the series here.

Article published by mongabayauthor

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