Tale of Rice Field Under Nickel Siege

Name: Tale of Rice Field Under Nickel Siege
Uploaded: 2023-04-27T05:15:56Z
Duration: 20 min 32 s
Description: Amid a robust nickel mining industry, some local people hold fast to rice cultivation as their source of livelihood. Rice fields are where their hopes for sustenance rest.

Amid a robust nickel mining industry, some local people hold fast to rice cultivation as their source of livelihood. Rice fields are where their hopes for sustenance rest.

SAIFUL RIJAL YUNUS

· 6 minutes read

Two-month-old paddy plants turned green across a stretch of cultivation land in Paku Jaya village, Bondoala district, Konawe regency, Southeast Sulawesi. It was Thursday (30/3/2023). Barefooted, Karmin (54) walked briskly down the field embankment.

At the end of the embankment, he stopped at an irrigation sluice. He opened it and water pounded out right away, sweeping away the stuck twigs and leaves.

"Hopefully, it will be a good harvest," said the grandfather of one, looking at the expanse of rice fields.

About 5 kilometers to the east, smoke billowed up from dozens of chimneys of a nickel-processing factory. The smelter is located in the Virtue Dragon Nickel Industrial Park area. Smoke comes out throughout the day from the processing and refining activity.

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The industrial area at Morosi district houses two large-scale nickel-processing companies, the other being Obsidian Stainless Steel. Part of the national strategic project funded by Chinese investment, one smelter was built in 2014, followed by another in 2019.

Back home, Karmin told how the mining industry had brought change to the society and environment. He said people’s cultivation fields, ponds and public streets had made way for the factory construction. No doubt, rice fields have changed from what they used to be.

Coming to reside in the neighborhood in the early 2000s, he knows very well the social and environmental conditions there. Back then, bushes had quite vastly covered the area before being cleared for rice fields.

This location is quite a distance from the factory, so it doesn't really have an impact.

"Looking back, [I see] farming was better back then than today. This location is quite a distance from the factory, so it doesn't really have an impact. The wind does blow smoke [down here], but only occasionally," he said, adding that those living adjacent to the factory were enduring a different situation.

Managing five hectares (ha) of rice fields, Karmin has had to employ neighbors at times. He said during the planting season he spent around Rp 15 million on buying seeds, fertilizers, pesticides and other utilities reserved for harvesting season.

He harvests twice a year, one earning him around Rp 50 million (US$3,383.25). Apart from being used to meet daily needs, the proceeds are allocated as an investment fund.

Karmin, along with dozens of other farmers, see rice fields as his “treasure”. He said he would not cede them, unless under an emergency situation, such as he experienced several years ago. He had no option but to sell two ha of his rice fields, as he was in urgent need of money for his son’s marriage.

Unlike Karmin, fellow resident Edimanto (31), with his house around a hundred meters from Karmin’s, relies on cattle for livelihood. When visited, he was busy chopping goat meat. He said he would rather have it slaughtered for the upcoming Idul Adha (Muslim festivity in coincidence of haj season) if not for its sickness.

He had no option but to sell two ha of his rice fields, as he was in urgent need of money for his son’s marriage.

Apart from relying on cattle, he does odd jobs to support his family. He used to work at a smelter before abandoning it two years ago, citing unclear remuneration packages for the workload.

He said his parents used to have sizeable rice fields, with him frequently aiding them in their work during his childhood. However, the situation had forced his parents to sell the rice fields bit by bit, with him now being left with none.

Speaking about smelters, he said the residents living around nickel mines and companies should have their livelihood empowered, either through employment or logistics assistance. He complained about his difficulty in meeting daily needs, saying they received "only dust”.

Impact

The mining activity with its smelters in the province has been under public spotlight for bad reasons. In Kolaka district, local residents protested hundreds of ha of their paddy fields had been disrupted by thick mud.

They blamed it on the tailing of the smelter located not far from their agricultural land, which resulted in their rice fields, which had been their source of livelihood for decades, damaged instantly.

On Wawonii Island, which administratively makes up Konawe Islands regency, land conflicts have been going on for years. Some residents have persisted with their cashew, clove and coconut plantations in resistance to the expansion of nickel mining. Despite being guaranteed on spatial regulations, the area is reportedly suffering persisting land encroachments.

Indonesian Forum for Environment (Walhi) recognizes Southeast Sulawesi as the belle of the country's nickel, but the commodity exploitation, according to forum’s provincial director Andi Rahman, has yet to bring positive impact for the local community. Instead, it continues to suffer from the negative excesses of the mining industry.

He pointed to Kabaena, a small island in Bombana regency, as an example of arbitrary mining operations, saying having been dredged for years, the island was desperately coping with floods or polluted seas due to the excess of mining activity. While the main income of the community from fishing and agriculture was increasingly eroded, he said the mining operators had fallen short of improving the infrastructure such as roads.

“Simply put, with hundreds of mining permits and a number of smelters that have been and will be established, what changes do the people feel? Is the basic infrastructure good? Is society in well-being? The reality is, it is not. Instead, the community bears the brunt of the prolonged [negative] impact," he said.

Government’s attention

Rahman hoped for more attention from the government to the commodity-producing regions, such as Southeast Sulawesi, saying there was a need for strict control and supervision in exploitation.

“Farming and fishing are main sources of livelihood for the community. If the land and sea are damaged, then what will they do? It's time for the government not to see Southeast Sulawesi simply as an investment hub for economic gains," he said.

Southeast Sulawesi administration secretary Asrun Lio acknowledged the declining trend in the contribution of the agricultural sector, while agricultural and marine sectors had been the foundation for the people in the region for many years.

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On the other hand, he had hoped mining would be able to provide great benefits on condition that it was managed optimally. He said the local government was also concerned about developing other sectors expected to bring people's income, such as from tourism and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME), in line with the development of agricultural and maritime sectors.

Coinciding with Southeast Sulawesi’s 59th anniversary, people’s hopes abound for a sustainable lifestyle. For Karmin and fellow farmers, a sustainable lifestyle depends on sustainable land to guarantee continued farming.

“This is the only thing we have for food, for our children. It is already enough," he said.

This article was translated by Musthofid.

Editor:

SYAHNAN RANGKUTI

regional economy konawe nickel nickel mining industry nickel mining paku jaya village