6) The Story Behind the Viral ‘All Eyes on Papua’
Indonesia is going ahead with a project to convert millions of acres in Papua into a gigantic sugarcane plantation so the restive region can become self-sufficient in sugar and its related liquid fuel, bioethanol.
But indigenous communities and environmentalists worry that the project in South Papua’s Merauke regency will lead to land grabs, ecological damage, and the destruction of traditional livelihoods.
They have been scarred by previous failed ventures in this sprawling regency, notably the Merauke Integrated Food and Energy Estate (MIFEE), which they say cheated them on payments, broke promises, and disregarded local perspectives.
Investment Minister Bahlil Lahadalia has been touting the importance of involving local communities in investment plans, even as he has acknowledged the failures of previous projects in Papua.
He insisted this time would be different.
“This program in Merauke has failed several times, right? There was MIFEE,” Bahlil told journalists during a visit to the project site last month.
“I don’t want this one to suffer the same fate.”
He said one reason similar projects had failed before was the seeds used.
“We have learned from the mistakes of the past,” he said.
“This time, we are addressing potential issues like seedling quality from the outset.”
Faced with Indonesia’s rising consumption of sugar and its consequent increase in imports, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo announced a plan in 2020 for the country to become self-sufficient in the commodity in a decade.
A key to achieving this and avoiding the pitfalls of previous attempts, he said then, was to expand cane area under state-run sugar mills beyond the traditional Java heartland to other regions and islands, the International Sugar Association said on its website.
During his election campaign three years later, Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto – now the president-elect – promised to reduce Indonesia’s reliance on coal, the dirtiest fossil fuel. The key to achieving that goal, he had said, was to replace it with biofuels – fuel made from animal or plant waste, such as bioethanol.
Prabowo has stated time and again that he plans to continue Jokowi’s policies. The president tacitly supported Prabowo, and Prabowo’s running mate was Jokowi’s eldest son. But analysts have said the president-elect will also want to be seen as his own man with some unique policies of his own.
The new Merauke project, which will integrate the sugarcane, sugar, bioethanol and biomass power generation industries in Merauke regency, is taking off ahead of Prabowo’s induction into office and Jokowi’s exit in October.
To accelerate its implementation, Jokowi in April signed a presidential decree to form a task force assigned with enabling investments from those various industries.
Such a group’s formation was part of a requirement set out in a presidential decree signed in December 2023 on the “Acceleration of National Sugar Self-Sufficiency and the Provision of Bioethanol as Biofuel.”
Bahlil heads the task force.
Under the task force’s plan, the integrated sugar-bioethanol-biomass power generation “clusters” will be spread across some two million hectares (4,942,107 acres) in Merauke regency.
The project is divided into four clusters, with the third one, covering an area of about 504,373 hectares, set apart for the private sector. The task force hopes this cluster attracts a total investment of U.S. $5.62 billion, according to a Ministry of Investment statement issued on May 2.
Bahlil said this would be a large outlay so investors must have real credibility and must fulfill the customary rights of people in the area, the statement added.
“The factory will operate on a large scale, and in the future, this investment will actively engage local communities. We won’t allow investors to thrive while the community suffers. Absolutely not!” he said.
“Our vision is fairness. We want investors, the country, the region, and the people to all benefit together. It’s about growing together.”
But for many Papuans, these promises ring hollow. The region, rich in natural resources but plagued by poverty and a simmering armed separatist movement, has long been wary of Jakarta’s development schemes.
Papua has grappled with underdevelopment for decades. The region in Indonesia’s far east faces challenges related to infrastructure, education, healthcare, and economic opportunities. Indigenous communities have historically borne the brunt of these disparities.
The Indonesian government said it aimed to prioritize a welfare-focused approach in its efforts to spur development in Papua.
Suharso Monoarfa, chief of the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas), said development projects should directly benefit Papuans.
“Earlier, we discussed plans to accelerate development in Papua. We will implement a welfare approach there,” the state-run Antara news agency quoted him as saying in May.
Indigenous clans get ‘token’ payment
Locals cite the example of the earlier MIFEE project that started in 2010 and which the government had said would revolutionize Indonesia’s food security. But all it did was leave a legacy of environmental damage and unfulfilled potential.
The administration of then-President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono government had envisioned that if the MIFEE project succeeded, Indonesia would by 2030 have additional food reserves of 1.95 million tons of rice, 2.02 million tons of corn, 167,000 tons of soybeans, 64,000 head of cattle, 2.5 million tons of sugar, and 937,000 tons of palm oil per year.
The project had been expected to boost Papua’s per-capita gross domestic product to 124.2 million rupiah per year ($7,616) by 2030 and save the country 4.7 trillion rupiah ($288.2 million) in foreign exchange through reduced food imports.
Even worse, critics say, was the project’s disregard for the cultural rights and customary land ownership of indigenous communities. Customary land belongs collectively to clans.
Petrus Kaize, a representative of one of the seven clans that claims customary ownership of the land, said there had not been a formal deal with the company developing the properties for the MIFEE project.
“There has never been a written agreement regarding this land issue,” Kaize told BenarNews.
In 2012, the contractor in charge of the MIFEE project gave the clans a “token” payment of 2 billion rupiah (roughly U.S. $133,000), but no formal contract was signed, Kaize said.
Back then, the two sides had also disagreed on the length of the lease for the MIFEE project, with the government pushing for 35 years and the clans wanting 25.
‘Fish drunk on pollution’
Environmentally, greenhouse gas emissions spiked as large swaths of forest land were converted to plantations.
In Zanegi, a village in Merauke, locals told a U.K. NGO in 2013 that malnutrition problems began after a company, which had arrived to run an industrial tree plantation, began operations.
“We would eat sago and walk the forest all day without being weary. Now, the sago dies and the earth is dry,” said Yosefa, a Malind woman, who was 31 years old back then, told the Forest Peoples Program.
“The rivers are dark and oily, and the fish drunk on pollution. Our children are dying because our sacred mother land has been ripped away from us,” she was quoted as saying in a July 2013 submission made by 27 Indonesian and international groups to the U.N. Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
Many are similarly suspicious of what they see as the opacity of the sugar-bioethanol project on the same land.
Franky Samperante, director of the Bentala People’s Heritage Foundation, a local NGO, said he had not seen the official design of the project that would cover nearly half of Merauke.
“This [design] document should have existed before the project was implemented,” he told BenarNews.
It was also important to have shown this to communities that would be affected, consult with them and get their approval, Franky said.
Maikel Primus Peuki, director of the environmental advocacy group Walhi in Papua, said the government’s development policy revealed a lack of respect for indigenous communities in Merauke.
“This is a top-down policy,” Maikel told BenarNews, calling the government approach “brutal.”
“It proceeds without the consent of indigenous people, who are the rightful owners of ancestral land and forests,” he told BenarNews.
For young people in Merauke regency, the potential environmental damage from the project is a big concern.
MIFEE’s ambitious plans, for instance, led to widespread deforestation, devastating fires, and significant greenhouse gas emissions, contradicting its stated goal of sustainability, environmental groups said.
Recent floods in the area were caused by deforestation from palm oil plantations, and the sugarcane plantation would only worsen the problem, said Kasimirus Chambu, head of the Merauke Student Association in Jayapura.
“Investments entering South Papua have many bad impacts on indigenous peoples,” Chambu said, calling for the project to be scrapped.
“I firmly reject the sugarcane company in Merauke regency.”
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Executive Director of the International NGO Forum on Indonesian Development or INFID, Iwan Misthohizzaman, stated that clearing customary forests in Papua by abusing state permits is an act of ecocide and a violation of human rights.
"Ecocide must be seen as a systematic, aggressive, massive, and planned form of attack on the environment," said Iwan in a written statement on Wednesday, June 5, 2024. Ecocide, he said, potentially destroys the environment’s capacity to support the living.
He said there are at least three elements of ecocide seen from today's climate change. First, exploitation of the environment leads to the extermination of nature. Second, the extermination is related to the erasure of people’s right to life. Third, the exploitation of natural resources leads to threats to human life, now and in the future.
In the case of Papua, Iwan said “the three elements of ecocide were met" since forests in Papua are a source of livelihood and civilization for indigenous peoples. The customary forest destruction in Papua also reflects the government’s failure and irresponsible business practices which defy sustainable development goals. "So everything becomes overlapping, weak, and corrupted," he said.
The Indigenous communities in Papua will experience immense loss of their living space if the palm oil companies’ operational permits are not revoked. Therefore, INFID urges the Supreme Court not to be part of the ecocide actors in the case of Papuan forests. The organization also asked the government to revoke the corporation's permit and return the customary forest to Papua’s Indigenous communities.
Meanwhile, INFID Human Rights and Democracy Program Officer Ari Wibowo believed the case of Papuan customary forest exploitation is part of human rights enforcement in Indonesia. He said this case is contrary to the three pillars of the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, namely protection of human rights by the state, respect for human rights by corporations, and reparation for human rights victims.
Awyu Tribe in South Papua and the Moi Tribe in Southwest Papua are currently fighting against corporations that are set to destroy their forests. The operations of PT IAL and PT SAS have the potential to cause deforestation which will release 25 million tons of CO2 into the atmosphere and worsen the impact of the climate crisis.
Therefore, INFID urges President Jokowi and all relevant institutions to commit to fulfilling the human rights of the Indigenous Awyu and Moi ethnic communities.
NOVALI PANJI NUGROHO
Editor’s Choice: VP Ma'ruf Amin Visits Papua's Wamena Today, Announces Strategic Programs
A campaign seeking to drive support for Indigenous tribes fighting palm oil plantations in eastern Indonesia is spreading widely online after taking inspiration from an AI-generated image of Gaza.
Mimicking the 'All Eyes on Rafah' graphic that splashed across social media last month, the 'All Eyes on Papua' image has been shared nearly three million times on Instagram since last week.
The campaign comes as Papua's Awyu and Moi Indigenous communities battle palm oil companies in court over massive tracts of land.
The Awyu tribe -- reportedly made up of 20,000 members who rely on the land for their subsistence -- is appealing an Indonesian court's decision to allow palm oil firm PT Indo Asiana Lestari (PT IAL) to clear large swathes of forest for plantations.
The company has been issued a 36,000-hectare (89,000-acre) government concession, more than half the size of the Indonesian capital Jakarta.
In southwest Papua, the Moi tribe has filed a lawsuit against the PT Sorong Agro Sawitindo (SAS) company, which plans to clear 18,160 hectares of forest for palm oil plantations.
"I believe the support we're seeing reflects a shared concern with the Awyu and Moi tribes in their resistance," Tigor Hutapea, a lawyer for the tribes, told AFP about the online campaign.
"This is a call to action, to save ourselves. As the forests continue to diminish, we are already feeling the consequences."
Both tribes are fighting their ongoing legal cases in the country's Supreme Court and members of both staged a protest in Jakarta last month.
"We are fighting for our land... where will we go? We are protecting this for our future generations," Awyu tribe plaintiff Hendrikus Woro told AFP.
Papua lost 2.5 percent of its tree cover between 2001 and 2023, according to Global Forest Watch.
In November, a Papuan court ruled that PT IAL's permit was valid, rejecting the Awyu tribe's argument that the concession had been granted based on a flawed environmental impact assessment.
The tribe and environmental NGOs also claim opponents of the palm oil firm's plans have faced intimidation.
PT IAL did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Palm oil is a billion-dollar industry in Indonesia, which is the world's largest producer and exporter of the commodity used in everything from chocolate spreads to cosmetics.
The European Union agreed in 2022 to ban palm oil imports linked to deforestation.
agn-jfx/lb
Originally published on doc.afp.com, part of the BLOX Digital Content Exchange.
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Vice President Ma'ruf Amin departed for the Wamena district, Jayawijaya, Papua Pegunungan, on Wednesday, June 5, 2024. The former Chair of the Indonesian Ulema Council announced several national strategic programs during his visit to Wamena today.
Ma'ruf’s visit to Wamena is part of his 5-day working visit to Papua starting Monday, June 3, 2024. He visited Wamena after carrying out a number of agendas in Merauke yesterday. In his opening speech, Ma'ruf said the government will strive to formulate development plans that reflect local wisdom and regional context as the Papua Pegunungan province is established.
The incumbent vice president also said the approach would reduce the potential for conflict and increase support from local residents. “Thus, the implementation of development strategies becomes more relevant and effective," said Ma'ruf at the Wamena Aithouse Building.
Some of the programs launched by Ma'ruf in the Papua Pegunungan Province include the development of the Central Core Government Area of the Papua Pegunungan Province, the Food Center Area of Jayawijaya Regency, the Electricity Program in Lanny Jaya Regency, and the Drinking Water Management System in Jayawijaya Regency.
Ma'ruf also inaugurated the extension of the Wamena Airport runway and the construction of the Wamena-Jayapura Trans Papua National Road. The Vice President and his wife, Wury Estu Handayani, were accompanied by the Acting Governor of Papua Pegunungan Velix Wanggai and members of Papua Pegunungan Forkopimda.
DANIEL A. FAJRI
AHY made the statement in connection with the plan for conversion of customary lands believed to be the home of the Awyu Tribe of South Papua and Moi Tribe of West Papua.
During his visit to Bekasi, West Java, on Wednesday, AHY underscored that President Joko Widodo had always placed emphasis on the importance of prioritizing the interests of people in every development project so that no one would be harmed.
"We cannot afford to let any development project be carried out without taking environmental preservation into consideration," he stressed.
Related news: VP vows continued government support for South Papua's development
The minister further said that the planned land conversion in Papua basically aims to pursue economic interests and development without neglecting the need to heed to the local residents' aspirations and wishes.
"No one should be pushed away from their own yard. We hope that no one and no region will be left behind. This issue is not limited to economic matters, as it is also inseparable from social justice," he pointed out.
A digital poster has been going viral on Instagram recently. The poster, imbued with the main tagline of "All Eyes on Papua," displays a narrative that states 36 thousand hectares of forest land in Boven Digoel, South Papua, will be converted into a palm oil plantation.
On May 27, representatives of the Awyu and Moi tribes held a demonstration in front of the Supreme Court (MA), Jakarta, to voice their opposition to the land conversion, arguing that the lands are customary and serve as their source of life.
Related news: Support development of S Papua as sugar industry center: VP
Translator: Ahmad M, Tegar Nurfitra
Editor: Yuni Arisandy Sinaga
6) The Story Behind the Viral ‘All Eyes on Papua’
The ‘All Eyes on Papua’ movement has gone viral on social media since early June, not long after the ‘All Eyes on Rafah’ movement swept the internet.
This movement emerged after environmental activists from the Awyu and Moi tribes visited the Supreme Court building in Central Jakarta on Monday, 27th May. The two tribes from Papua wore traditional clothing from their respective tribes and held prayers as well as traditional rituals in front of the Supreme Court building.
Their purpose was imploring the Supreme Court to issue regulations protecting their customary forests.
“We have gone through the long, complicated, and expensive journey from Tanah Papua to Jakarta to ask the Supreme Court to restore our rights that were confiscated — by cancelling the permits of the palm oil companies that we are currently fighting against,” said Hendrikus Woro, an environmental activist on behalf of the Awyu tribe, to the press.
The hashtag #AllEyesOnPapua has been included in the trending topic list of platform X and has collected more than 21,000 tweets as of today. This movement has received a lot of support from netizens on social media. Furthermore, on Instagram, the official accounts of Greenpeace Indonesia (@greenpeaceid) and Pusaka Bentala Rakyat (@bentalarakyat) have also voiced their support for the Awyu and Moi tribes.
The call for the Supreme Court to provide legal sovereignty for indigenous communities was also made by the representative of the Moi tribe, Fiktor Klafiu.
“The customary forest is where we hunt and gather sago. The forest is a pharmacy for us; all our needs are there. If our traditional forests disappear, where else will we go?” Klafiu added.
PT Sorong Agro Sawitindo previously had a concession for 40 thousand hectares of land in Sorong Regency, Papua. The central government revoked the company’s forest area release and business permits in 2022. However, the company opposed this decision and filed a lawsuit with the Jakarta Administrative Court (Pengadilan Tata Usaha Negara or PTUN). Representatives of the indigenous communities fought back in December 2023. After the judge rejected their lawsuit, the indigenous communitiessubmitted an appeal to the Supreme Court on 3rd May 2024.
“If this continues, it will have an impact, firstly, on the loss of living space for Indigenous communities who have been living with nature,” remarked Greenpeace Indonesia Forest Campaigner, Asep Komaruddin, on Tuesday, 4th June.
Moreover, climatic damage should be considered as well.
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