InfoSAWIT, JAKARTA – It has been 63 years that Indonesia commemorated Farmer’s day nationally but the farmers (smallholders) do not get their sovereignty on their lives. In fact, Chapter 33, article 3 Undang-Undang Dasar 1945 says that the earth and water and all the natural resources contained therein are controlled by the country and used for the greatest prosperity of the people.
According to data published by Konsorsium Pembaruan Agraria (KPA), agrarian conflicts happened 212 times in 2022 that laid on 1.035.613 hectares in a whole in 459 villages and cities with the total villagers involved reaching 346.402 families.
The numbers of conflicts escalated from 2021 that reached only 207 times. The worse is that in 2023, agrarian conflicts massively happens. In September 2023, Human Rights National Commission said that in the past eight months, there had been 692 times on the same case in many regions in Indonesia. This happened for the development process of proyek strategis nasional (PSN) or publishing permit in plantation, mining, and energy sectors. In the recent days, the government re-delivered example with their pride by taking people’s areas in force in Pulau Rempang and Galang by proposing PSN Rempang Eco City that raised conflicts which in the end, 28 local residences should be arrested for they fought for their rights on their land.
“It was revealed that three farmers were arrested because of area conflict between villagers of Pakel and PT. Bumi Sari,” Chairman of Seriat Petani Kelapa Sawit (SPKS) Mamuju, Supriadi said, as in the official statement to InfoSAWIT, Tuesday (26/9/2023).
In its context in West Sulawesi Province itself, he continued, precisely in District of Pasangkayu in March 2023, five smallholders of Kabuyu were arrested at Pasangkayu Police because of area conflict between the local people and palm oil plantation company, PT. Mamuang.
Meanwhile, Wahana Lingkungan Hidup (Walhi) noted that since 2017, PT. Mamuang has been the subsidiary of PT. Astra Agro Lestari Tbk (the second biggest palm oil plantation company in Indonesia) and does criminal to seven smallholders who fought for their rights on land when palm oil investments happen massively.
“This means agrarian conflicts in national scale and in West Sulawesi are the evidences that the government has no partisanship to manage or deliver solution on agrarian conflicts but in the contrary, the government has partisanship to corporates,” he said.
The government’s partisanship to corporates than to people in land mastery is reinforced by the report of Walhi in September 2022 that delivered notes which contained that the country allocated 36,8 million hectares for the corporate and for the people just laid about 3,1 million hectares in Indonesia. It means, about 92% the country allocated 92% of the areas for the corporates and only 8% for the people.
“For we are commemorating the anniversary of West Sulawesi Province with our spirit, we should be aware of everything discussed above to encourage the government to solve every root of agrarian conflict in this province, both in education, health, criminal, and sexual abuse, and the practices of corruption, collusion, and nepotism in West Sulawesi,” Supriadi said. (T2)
