Neglecting the People While Claiming Their Land

SUCIPTO

Pandi (49) with his wife and child poses in front of his house in Sepaku Village, Sepaku District, North Penajam Paser, East Kalimantan, Tuesday (7/6/2022). They are descendants of the Paser and Balik tribes, local communities whose rights should be protected in the development of the Nusantara capital city.

While the bitter experience of eviction because of forestry concessionaire practices and transmigration projects have yet to wear out from their memories, the Paser and Balik people are now coping with the fear of marginalization from state capital (IKN) relocation.

Sibukdin (60) walked down the bank of the Sepaku River behind his house. When he was a teenager, the river bank was where he looked for fruits such as kendis, bumunyong and kendui. They are no longer available now. To find any, local people have to go deep into the forest terrain.

Along the riverbanks, there are now the many buildings, plantations and activities of government development projects. Sibukdin recalled that the spatial changes in the area – he lives in Sepaku village, Sepaku district, Penajam Paser Utara (PPU) regency, East Kalimantan – began to occur in the 1970s.

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Back then, the New Order government was bringing in people from Java Island to dwell there through the nationwide transmigration program. Sibukdin said the local people were not involved in the land boundary set up in opening settlements for the newcomers. As a result, some portions of their land fell into the transmigration area.

“At that time, government officials said it was state land because we did not have documents to prove land ownership,” he said. He complained about the government’s tendency of being negligent about local people’s land and their rights when commencing a development project.

“How comes the state only claims the land without recognizing the people?” he said despondently on Monday (6/6/2022).

The plantation area covers more than 100,000 hectares. A gradual change in livelihoods has since been evident among the Balik and Paser people in Sepaku

The forests, which have provided a livelihood through hunting and farming, dwindled fast due to massive conversion into corporate industrial plantations, thanks to the government’s concessionaire permit grants. The plantation area covers more than 100,000 hectares. A gradual change in livelihoods has since been evident among the Balik and Paser people in Sepaku.

Like other local communities in Kalimantan, the two tribes relied on livelihood customs, in which they moved from one plot of land to another to cultivate their basic needs. They would usually clear up about half a ha of land by burning. Trees were felled and the leaves and stems were piled before the bushes were burned.

SUCIPTO

The head of the Balik tribe of the Sepaku Village, Sibukdin (60), stands on his land in the Sepaku Village, Sepaku District, North Penajam Paser, East Kalimantan, Monday (6/6/2022).

Family members stood by at the land fringe with bunches of leaves in their hands. They used the leaves to beat and extinguish the fire when it was about to spread. This traditional method was effective in preventing forest fires.

The cleared land was planted with rice and other crops without chemical fertilizers. After harvesting, they moved to another field. The old land was allowed to rejuvenate naturally before being cultivated again.

These indigenous peoples have now abandoned the traditional land clearance ways not only because such practices are prohibited but the land has either fallen to corporate entities or become a transmigration dwelling area.

“We end up buying rice for our daily meals. We are still not used to the [wet] farming system, and the land and forests for planting [crops] have also gone,” said Sibukdin, who is the head of the Balik tribe in Sepaku village.

They are also deprived of the consumption of natural honey now because the lumu trees, where honey bees would nest, no longer grow.

They are concerned that knowledge about medicinal plants resourced from the forest cannot be passed on to the current generation. They used to brew the root of the bajakah plant for a drink to maintain their health. They cannot afford it anymore because the bajakah tree is hard to find. They are also deprived of the consumption of natural honey now because the lumu trees, where honey bees would nest, no longer grow.

New adjustment

Additionally, the indigenous peoples living around the in-develop new state capital, called Nusantara, are not sitting back. They are willing to adjust to the changes and be permissive to newcomers while struggling for their rights.

KOMPAS/SUCIPTO

A view of the industrial forest area of PT ITCI Hutani Manunggal which is planned to be the location of the new state capital in Sepaku District, North Penajam Paser, East Kalimantan, Monday (12/4/2021).

Currently, Sibukdin makes a living by cultivating oil palm trees on an area of about one hectare, which is a completely new way of livelihood for the tribe. He has taken up growing various crops lately, knowing that almost all the transmigration people in his surroundings do so. He also grows various fruits and vegetables, such as bananas and sap, for his daily needs. He also sells the crops.

The resilience to survive is also shown by Pandi (49), a native of the Balik and Paser tribes. As head of neighborhood unit (RT) 003 in Sepaku, he is now facilitating residents in their land certification process. He said many residents had not been aware of the urgency of administrative certificates for their houses and cultivated land. He expressed his concern that the new state capital development project would also affect their settlements.

He said he initiated the facilitation because the certification program by the government had hardly been touched the residents. He himself completed the certification for his 10 meter by 10 m house in 2019.

"What we are afraid of is that the land we live on and our plantations could fall prey to unscrupulous people if there are no documents. No one has explained the IKN to us," Pandi said.

On several occasions of meeting the Sepaku district administrators, Pandi voiced the residents' concerns and urged the government to provide equal protection of the residents' land and rights as citizens.

“They do not want to be marginalized and [embroiled] in difficulties in their own homeland,” he said.

In fact, they used to drink water from the Sepaku River before the river water was contaminated with sewage and fertilizers from the concession land.

Pandi has to buy water for drinking and cooking needs. In fact, they used to drink water from the Sepaku River before the river water was contaminated with sewage and fertilizers from the concession land.

The government is currently building the Sepaku intake and the Sepaku Semoi water reservoir for the IKN clean water needs. Pandi hopes that residents could also be catered to without having to spend money.

He really hopes that the development of IKN as a symbol of national identity should bring about a better life for local people, instead of their marginalization.

He said the North Penajam Paser regency government, through the legal division, had yet to show concern about the indigenous peoples’ complaints. The local government, he said, had yet to carry out community mapping as recommended by Home Ministry regulations.

Indigenous peoples, such as the Pandi and Sibukdin tribes, expect the government to pay attention to them. This can be initiated by recognizing their status as indigenous peoples.

(This article was translated by Musthofid)