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Fight against mining begins to bear fruit in Indonesia

On Flores, church joins forces with local residents seeking to reclaim their ancestral lands
Fight against mining begins to bear fruit in Indonesia

Anti-mining activists, from left, Ardianus Ruslin, Rikardus Hama and Marianus Kisman, were all imprisoned for their opposition to mining on Flores island, Indonesia. (Photo by Siktus Harson)

Published: October 21, 2015 06:11 AM GMT
Updated: October 20, 2015 07:30 PM GMT

Community leader Siprianus Amon, 62, chose to stand up against the mining company that caused respiratory problems and skin diseases among many fellow villagers, and destroyed vast amounts of forest.

He chose to stand up to them even though it meant he would be arrested.

Many villagers — infants, children and adults alike — suffered chest and abdominal pains, some even coughing up blood due to the air and water pollution allegedly caused by the mining company PT Arumbai Mangan Bekti. The company has operated across Manggarai district, on the west side of Indonesia’s Flores island, since 1982, including in Serise village, where Amon and hundreds of other villagers live.

For years, mothers were unable to get clean water because wells had turned black from mining waste. During dry season, manganese dust blanketed people's houses, kitchen utensils, plants, and food.

Children could not play outdoors because when they did, their clothing or school uniforms turned black. People complained to company management, to the government and to the local parliament. Their complaints went unheeded, and hospital emergency rooms and local clinics became overburdened from treating their various ailments.

That’s when locals turned to the Catholic Church.

"Church leaders responded quickly and immediately organized the people in 2009, demanding that the company stop operations," said Amon.

Shortly afterward, he and three other people in Serise village were arrested by police. He was charged with plotting an attack against the company and jailed for five months.

"All we did was defend our ancestral land. Nothing less, nothing more," he said, claiming the charges against him were fabricated.

"It was a painful moment for me and my family when my husband was jailed for defending the rights of the people," Amon's wife Elisabet Gambung said.

Rikardus Hama, a community leader in Tumbak, a village next to Serise, was jailed for three months for defending ancestral lands and the rights of more than 400 farmers facing exploitation by PT Aditya Bumi Pertambangan, another mining company.

He said police charged him with threatening company staff, who came to survey the location.

"But the main reason I was arrested is because I did not allow the company that began to ship excavators and bulldozers into our land inherited from our forefathers, from one generation to another," said Hama, referring to about 22,200 hectares of land that the company claimed to have been given by local authorities — without prior discussion with local people.

The pushback against the mining companies landed Hama and two other people — including church activist Marianus Kisman — in jail for three months.

"We are very grateful, however, because the Catholic Church responded immediately after we asked for help," unlike members of parliament and government who ignored their complaints, Hama said.

Due to massive protests, East Manggarai district chief Yosef Tote in 2011 instructed the mining companies to stop operations for an indeterminate amount of time and ordered his administration to reevaluate mining activities.

 

'An anti-mining church'

Kisman, the church activist who worked on the anti-mining campaigns for the Franciscans and Divine Word Missionaries, noted that the church has played an important role in anti-mining protests in the past four years.

He said the mining activity in Manggarai came through illicit deals made between the local government and mining companies that took advantage of the innocence and naivete of the local population. Thirty years ago, when mining operations began in the district, no one knew what mining was and what impact it would have on the environment.

"It's the Catholic Church that makes people aware of the negative impacts of mining to the life of people and the integrity of creation here," Kisman said. "The evil side of mining has united bishops, priests, brothers, nuns, and lay people."

Kisman was jailed because of his stance against PT Aditya Bumi Pertambangan, which also fabricated a story against him, leading to his arrest by police, he said. He was accused of receiving money from the company to ensure support from local people.

In recent years, about 14 people in Manggarai and East Manggarai were imprisoned because of their opposition to mining operations.

"When we were jailed, the spirit of anti-mining activism was ignited by church leaders, particularly when Bishop Hubertus Leteng of Ruteng visited and talked to people and presided at Mass at the mining sites," said Kisman.

"The bishop's presence at the mining sites gave a strong signal against mining," recalled Franciscan Father Mikael Peruhe, coordinator of the Franciscan Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation organization in Jakarta.

Addressing participants of a diocesan synod in January last year, Bishop Leteng declared that the Diocese of Ruteng was an anti-mining church. He also instructed Catholics to oppose any candidate for elected office who was directly or indirectly linked to the mining companies.

In October last year, thousands of people joined the bishop at an anti-mining rally in Ruteng, the capital of Manggarai district.

During the church-sponsored rally, protesters called on the government to cease all mining operations in the three districts under the jurisdiction of the Ruteng Diocese because of the disastrous impact it had on the environment, traditions and social conflicts.

In this file photo, Bishop Hubertus Leteng of Ruteng visits Serise. The bishop later led an anti-mining campaign throughout the diocese. (Photo supplied by the Franciscan JPIC)

 

Mining and politics

Out of three districts under the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of Ruteng Diocese, only the head of East Manggarai made the political choice to oppose mining.

A similar stance is expected from Manggarai and West Manggarai districts, as new district heads are expected to be sworn in after Dec. 9 elections.

However, local residents directly affected by mining — like Amon, Kisman, and Hama — said they will remain vigilant as the mining companies, with their deep pockets, can engineer a deal with whomever is in power and restart full operations.

The Indigenous Peoples Alliance of the Archipelago reported that the government of East Manggarai district gave permits to three companies — PT Istindo Mitra Perdana, PT Arumbai Mangan Bekti, PT Aditya Bumi Pertambangan — to mine 37,000 hectares of mostly fertile land that was the lifeblood for local people. The deal affects thousands of people in local villages.

For Hama, the community leader who was jailed for defending his ancestral lands, this has underlined the importance of remaining watchful.

"We were cheated. That's why we fight with all our hearts and soul," he said.

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