Deiram River Becomes Murky
The Deiram river originates in the central mountains, crossing villages through southern Papua, including though the customary territory of the Korowai tribe.
A ketinting boat carrying free-range chickens will be sold around Korowai Batu Airport in Boven Digoel Regency, Papua, Monday (9/3/2020).
The Deiram river in remote Boven Digoel, Papua, has long been the source of life for the Korowai tribal community. The water that used to be clear is now murky due to the impact of illegal mining.
It was almost three hours the boat on which Kompas was traveling cruised along the Deiram river in Boven Digoel Regency, Papua, in March 2020. Along the way, the river water was murky. The water was just starting to look clear as it entered the creeks.
The Deiram river originates in the central mountains, crossing villages through southern Papua, including though the customary territory of the Korowai tribe. The water flows for hundreds of kilometers across a number of districts before finally ending up in the Arafura Sea.
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Sinimburu village, Yaniruma district, Boven Digoel, is one of the Korowai settlements that grew on the outskirts of the Deiram. The village, which comprises two neighborhood units with a population of 79 families, relies on the Deiram for various life necessities, ranging from drinking water, fishing to transportation routes.
However, over the last few years, the conditions have changed. The reason is illegal gold mining activities upstream or, as the Korowai people call it, in "the head of the river". The mine site is actually far from Sinimburu, about two hours of traveling by boat plus a day and night’s walk. It is located on the border of Boven Digoel and Yahukimo.
Although it is far away, the impact of the mine is felt close to Sinimburu. Traces of damage in the upstream due to soil dredging are carried by the Deiram flow downstream. "Since 2019, the river has started to become murky, it cannot be used for drinking," said the head of RT 002 Sinimburu, Anton Dayo.
This was echoed by a number of other residents. Now, residents turn to small rivers around the village to meet their needs for clean water, some of them collect rainwater. "We are afraid to drink [the Deiram] water because we are afraid that dong [they] use poisonous water in the mine," said Paulus Dayo (25), a resident of Sinimburu.
Meanwhile, the poison in the water he refers to is mercury, a substance commonly used by miners to separate gold from other materials.
Who Paulus meant by “they” were the illegal miners at the head of the river. Meanwhile, the poison in the water he refers to is mercury, a substance commonly used by miners to separate gold from other materials.
Mercury is a hazardous chemical element that can damage the environment and human health. If exposed to levels that exceed the safe threshold, humans can experience serious health problems, even death.
Causing problems for residents
The mining, including the alleged use of mercury, was revealed to the public by Pastor Trevor Johnson through an open letter on 5 August 2018. The pastor from the United States has served and assisted the community in Danuwage, Yaniruma District for more than 10 years.
Danuwage is one way to access the mine. On the Danuwage there is the Korowai Batu airport which serves the pioneer flights on the Korowai Batu-Tanah Merah route (the capital city of Boven Digoel). Miners from outside Boven Digoel, even from outside Papua, usually use this route to and from the mine.
Residents sit on the banks of the Deiram River in Sinimburu Village, Yanimura District, Boven Digoel Regency, Papua, Monday (9/3/2020).
This also adds to the difficulties of the Korowai residents because they have to "fight for" the plane seats with the miners whose numbers reach thousands of people. In fact, the plane is the only means of connecting with the district capital. Meanwhile, the aircraft's capacity is only 12 passengers with a flight frequency of three times a week.
"It's difficult to get tickets there [in Korowai] because the location is near the gold mining. The planes are always full,” said the transportation officer at Tanah Merah Airport when we were looking for tickets to Korowai.
One of the administrators of Sinimburu village, Danil Lahayu, said the murky Deiram water did not cause itching and that there were still a lot of fish, however, the murkiness of the river made it impossible for the locals to do fish archery. "It's also difficult to use a fishing line because the fish can't see the bait," he said.
This step was also supported by the Papua Police and Kodam XVII/Cenderawasih.
Since Pastor Trevor wrote the open letter, the Papuan provincial administration, which was then led by acting Governor Soedarmo, moved quickly to close the mine on 10 August 2018. This step was also supported by the Papua Police and Kodam XVII/Cenderawasih.
Based on Kompas records, the authorities confiscated two helicopters that were used to transport miners and logistics to the mining point. It is suspected that large investors financed the illegal activities.
Danil Lahayu said that there had been a request from the local community to close the mine. However, this had not been reported to the government. “People are afraid that the forest will be damaged and it will disturb their customs. I'm also afraid of falling victim because there have been murders there," he said.
Dilemma
For some residents, the existence of a mine creates a dilemma. On the one hand, they acknowledge the damage caused by these activities, but on the other hand, mining is a source of money. There are those who mine directly and others who work to provide boat transportation services, transporting goods or selling necessities to the miners.
Paulus Dayo said he usually sold cigarettes at the mine site. On each visit, he brought 1-2 big boxes of cigarettes (one boxes contains 100 packs). "Usually the items were sold out in 3-4 days. If we have capital of Rp 2.5 million (US$174.41), we can earn Rp 5 million from selling in the mine,” said Paulus.
Residents' activities on the banks of the Deiram River in Sinimburu Village, Yanimura District, Boven Digoel Regency, Papua, Wednesday (4/3/2020).
From the profits, Paulus was able to build a modest house which cost Rp 50 million. However, he also realized that the mines made the rivers murky and the forests upstream were damaged. “There is nothing wrong with the gold mining, as long as you don't use poison in the water, because later the fish can also get infected,” says Paulus.
Lambot Wahanom (35), a resident of Yafufla village, has also worked several times as a transporter to help carry the miners' goods. For every transportation service he provided, walking 12 hours from Danuwage to the mine site, he was paid Rp 500,000. He witnessed the destruction of the forest as a result of these activities. However, he could not do anything.
Rhidian Yasminta Wasaraka, an anthropologist of intercultural communication at the Jayapura Muhammadiyah College of Communication, who from 2003 until today has been in intensive contact with the Korowai people, said that apart from the impact of the environmental damage, mining also has the potential to erode Korowai cultural values. Another threat is the susceptibility of conflict, as occurred in September 2019.
However, on the other hand, he believed there was also a need for solutions of sustainable economic resources for the community. "The government needs to intervene so that the balance between the economy and nature can be maintained," said the lecturer.
Head of the Papua Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) Agency, Fred James Boray, revealed that there were seven illegal mining locations in the Korowai area. "About 3,000 miners were brought by certain individuals there using helicopters and boats," said Fred at the time.
Overall, in Papua, said Fred, there are about 30 illegal gold mining sites spread across a number of areas, namely Yahukimo, Gunung Bintang, Keerom, Walapen, Jayapura City, Jayapura Regency and Boven Digoel. On average, any individual who claims to be the owner of ulayat rights gets a gold mining area of 1-2 hectares only.
Meanwhile, based on data from the Papua Natural Resources Management Work Forum, until 2021 a total of around 90,000 people were operating in community mining areas that do not have permits.
Based on data from the Papua Energy and Mineral Resources Office, the Papua provincial administration loses potential local revenue of around Rp 35 billion per month due to illegal gold mining activities. Meanwhile, based on data from the Papua Natural Resources Management Work Forum, until 2021 a total of around 90,000 people were operating in community mining areas that do not have permits.
Supervision of illegal mining in these areas has not been optimal. This is because geographically, Papua is very vast, there is the potential for conflict due to resistance from the community as the ulayat rights owners and the operational costs to reach illegal mining locations are very high because, for example, they have to rent a helicopter.
Residents ride a boat across the Deiram River in Sinimburu Village, Yanimura District, Boven Digoel Regency, Papua, Sunday (8/3/2020).
Fred stated that the solution to overcoming illegal mining in Papua was to determine the people's mining area (WPR). The authority to determine the WPR is in the hands of the central government, namely the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry. (FLO)
(This article was translated by Kurniawan Siswo).
