Farmers go to State Palace and ask Joko Widodo to intervene

Pekanbaru, Berdikari Online – Today, Thursday, June 20, 2024, representatives of the farming community from Indragiri Hulu (Inhu) Regency, Riau, started marching towards the State Palace. They called on the President of the Republic of Indonesia, H. Ir Joko Widodo, to intervene and issue orders directly to the Minister of Environment and Forestry of the Republic of Indonesia to focus on the issue of land conflicts in industrial forest plantations (HTI) of PT. ). RPI with the community. It is hoped that the collaboration of various relevant institutions can provide legal certainty through addendums (modifications) to the IUPHHK-HTI permits to issue and release villages and village areas where rubber and palm oil plantations are located of people who have lived there for years.

Muhammad Ridwan, as general chairman of the People's Committee of Agricultural Fighters (KPPR), said there had been decades of conflict between communities in 4 (four) Lubuk Batu Jaya, Kelayang and Peranap districts, D regency. 'Indragiri Hulu (Inhu) and Ukui District, Palalawan. Regency, with PT. Peranap Indah Jungle (RPI). Since 1997 until today, no resolution has been found.

“Various methods were used by residents of the 4 (four) sub-districts of Lubuk Batu Jaya, Kelayang and Peranap Indragiri Hulu (Inhu) regency and Ukui sub-district, Palalawan regency to strike at the gates of government, from regional to central government, mediation methods, mass actions, occupation actions, etc. to fight for their land, but there was no resolution. On the contrary, when the public pushed the government to organize protests and occupations, the government characterized them as disruptors of public order. “In fact, in almost all agrarian conflicts, it is the government and corporations that disturb people’s peace,” Ridwan said.

According to Ridwan, on the island of Sumatra (Riau, Jambi, South Sumatra and surrounding areas), for almost 10 years, the facilitation of conflict resolution within the KHLK was only achieved when the community organized demonstrations, knocking on the door of the KLHK to take a firm stance in resolving forest conflicts by giving priority as much as possible to the interests of the population. Even this response and facilitation from the Ministry of Environment and Forests appears to be only a formal effort to reduce actions taken by farmers.

The results of the conflict resolution facilitation meeting organized by the Ministry of Environment and Forestry following the actions of these farmers only resulted in an agreement that the Ministry of Environment and Forestry would deploy a TIM on the ground. After the community dispersed protests, sometimes for months, there was no certainty as to when the TEAM in question would take the field. Even if a TEAM from the Ministry of Environment and Forests goes to the field, after that there is no follow-up on facilitation from the Ministry of Environment and Forests, let alone finalizing a solution which puts the interests of the people first, continued Ridwan. . “In the resolution of agrarian, forestry and land conflicts, the government must be fully involved in the favorable management of natural resources and in the protection of the interests of the people in order to ensure the greatest prosperity for the people. “Agrarian conflicts triggered by the government must be resolved by the government itself instead of remaining neutral, much less protecting the interests of a handful of capital owners.”

Muhamad Ridwan, who is also the general president of the Movement Against Land Mafia (Gerlamata) of Riau province, stressed that his organization is very committed to the management of agrarian conflicts so that the government truly takes sides for the greater prosperity of the people.

“Today we directly led the march of hundreds of farmer representatives from Indragiri Hulu, Riau, to the State Palace and asked the President of the Republic of Indonesia H. Ir Joko Widodo to intervene to give orders directly to the Minister of Environment and Forestry of the Republic of Indonesia will focus on the issue of land conflict in industrial forest plantations (HTI) RPI with the community so that the collaboration of various institutions. concerned can provide legal certainty through addendums (modifications) to IUPHHK-HTI permits to issue, release villages and village areas in which community rubber and palm oil plantations are located. the interest of legal security and justice for the people in the conditions of the unfolding agrarian conflict,” concluded Ridwan.

The march of farmers' representatives from Indragiri Hulu Riau to the State Palace was a step in the fight to have their aspirations heard and their problems resolved. Of course, this is in line with the confirmation of the President of the Republic of Indonesia, Ir. H. Joko Widodo during the limited meeting on accelerating the settlement of land issues – Jakarta, Friday, May 3, 2019, said that the President had given firm instructions to his ministers to ensure legal security and justice to the people in the current conditions of agrarian conflict. . The president even explicitly called for revoking all concessions from private companies or state-owned companies if concession rights holders made efforts to accelerate the restoration of people's rights in the conflict that erupted difficult.

As per what was conveyed by Ridwan, Asbullah, SH. Community leader and KUD chairman Tani Bahagia asked President Joko Widodo, towards the end of his term, to resolve community issues with PT Rimba Peranap Indah (RPI).

“We have high hopes for President Joko Widodo, through the Ministry of Environment and Forestry (KLHK) and the Ministry of Agrarian Affairs and Land Planning/National Land Agency (ATR/BPN ), to be able to resolve community problems with the PT RPI”, says Abdallah.

Abdullah also said that this problem between the community and PT RPI has been going on since 1997 until today, there is no clarity, causing unrest in the community because every day their plantations are forcibly destroyed by the business.

“This conflict often triggers tensions between the community and the company, which is why we are concerned that if issues like this continue to arise, it is not impossible that this friction could trigger a larger-scale conflict” , he added.

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