Dayak People Oppose Transmigration Plan for Food Estate Program

KOMPAS/DIONISIUS REYNALDO TRIWIBOWO

President Joko Widodo (right, foreground) inspects a site of the national food estate program on Thursday (9/7/2020) in Bentuk Jaya village, Kapuas regency, Central Kalimantan.

PALANGKARAYA, KOMPAS – Residents organized under the United Dayak Alliance held a demonstration in front of the Central Kalimantan governor’s office on Monday to protest the government’s transmigration program aimed at supporting the development of food estates in the province.

Dozens of people wearing traditional Dayak clothes rallied on the Monday morning, with some giving speeches and others presenting traditional dances during the protest. They walked from the office of the Central Kalimantan Regional Legislative Council (DPRD) to the governor’s office in the provincial capital of Palangkaraya. Security forces guarded the peaceful protest.

Apart from giving speeches, they also gave performances using Mandau and Dayak machetes. They were then met by the head of the province’s manpower and transmigration office, Rivianus Syahril Tarigan, because the governor of Central Kalimantan, Sugianto Sabran, was out of town.

Meanwhile, thousands of native Central Kalimantan people will receive nothing.

In his oration, the spokesman for the United Dayak Alliance, Ingkit Beny Sam Djaper, said the government\'s plan to move people from other provinces to work in the planned food estates could threaten the existence of the local people. He said he feared the transmigration plan would sideline the Dayak tribe.

"Under the transmigration program, the government provides various facilities, such as electricity, 2.5 hectares of certified land, and much more. Meanwhile, thousands of native Central Kalimantan people will receive nothing," said Ingkit.

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KOMPAS/DIONISIUS REYNALDO TRIWIBOWO

Members of the United Dayak Alliance hold a demonstration on Monday (31/8/2020) at the Central Kalimantan governor’s office to protest the government’s transmigration plan to develop the food estate program in the province.

The United Dayak Alliance asked the government to grant special autonomy to the province of Central Kalimantan, "so that budget allocations from the central government and financial institutions can be fully used for regional development," said Ingkit.

Like Ingkit, demonstration coordinator Yusup Roni revealed that efforts carried out in the province under the transmigration program in previous years had failed, as many of the resettled people had left the land provided by the government. A large part of the transmigration areas have been abandoned.

"There must be revitalization and optimization of the abandoned transmigration areas in Central Kalimantan," said Yusup.

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Yusup said the opposition to the transmigration program began after the central government announced its plan several months ago to bring in at least 20,000 transmigrants to work on the planned food estates in Central Kalimantan, while more than 50,000 locals in Central Kalimantan were unemployed.

"The food estate program must be transparent, and the government must be able to convince us that this program will also empower and provide welfare for the people of Central Kalimantan," Yusup said.

Work on the food estate program began last month on existing and abandoned rice fields. According to the plan, the food estates will measure some 30,000 hectares, about half of the size of the province of Jakarta. The government has also begun to repair irrigation systems that had been built decades ago but had become flood hazards.

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KOMPAS/DIONISIUS REYNALDO TRIWIBOWO

A boy wearing traditional clothing takes part in the demonstration staged by the United Dayak Alliance at the Central Kalimantan governor’s office on Monday (31/8/2020). The group was protesting the government’s transmigration plan to develop the food estate program in the province.

About 30,160 ha located in the regencies of Pulang Pisau and Kapuas are being prepared for the food estates. About 10,160 ha of those lands are located in Pulang Pisau and the other 20,000 ha in Kapuas. The area covers 13 districts in the two regencies.

In response to the demonstration, the head of the province’s manpower and transmigration office, Rianus Syahril Tarigan, said the demands of the protesters were in line with the regional government’s development program, which prioritized the empowerment and welfare of the local people.

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Syahril earlier said that the mechanism for the transmigration program had to be based on recommendations from the local governments. Until now, there has been no proposal from the local governments in Pulang Pisau and Kapuas regarding the locations of the food estates.

"The central government’s plan to send 20,000 transmigrants is only an idea. We have not submitted any proposals,” said Syahril.

Syahril said the food estate program still utilized existing rice fields. "For the following years, we cannot yet unveil what we will do, because we must carry out a study before conducting the transmigration program,” he said.