Defending the environment for God<\/p>\n
Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Her love of God has led Sarma Siregar to jail. But the softly
\nspoken lady has never regretted it.<\/p>\n
"That is the consequence if you decide to serve God with full
\ncommitment," she told The Jakarta Post during an interview
\nrecently.<\/p>\n
Sarma, 32, was among 16 people jailed by a court for damaging
\nthe Porsea district head's office during a rally opposing the
\nplan to reopen pulp factory Toba Pulp Lestari (formerly PT
\nIndorayon Inti Utama) in North Sumatra in November 2002.<\/p>\n
Sarma, who is a church minister, was on her way home after
\npreparing for the Christmas celebration at her Huria Batak
\nKristen Protestant (HKBP) church when she saw angry crowds on the
\nPorsea main road on Nov. 21.<\/p>\n
"I saw a member of my congregation among them. I asked him
\nwhat had happened and he said that they had tried to meet the
\ndistrict head to convey their opposition to the plan to reopen
\nthe pulp factory," she said.<\/p>\n
Sarma later told the crowd to calm down and went to see the
\ndistrict head, whose family name was also Siregar, and asked him
\nto meet the crowd outside. He refused.<\/p>\n
This made the protesters angry. Several of them threw rocks at
\nthe office and smashed two window panes.<\/p>\n
Police later dispersed the crowd. As she walked in the street,
\nshe saw several police officers beating up her husband, Miduk
\nSirait, who is also a church minister.<\/p>\n
While Sarma was still in shock at seeing her husband being
\nbeaten up, the police arrested her. Her husband was also among
\nthe 16 people jailed.<\/p>\n
"The police forced me to sign a document saying that I was a
\nprovocateur, referring to my sermons. I refused. They later beat
\nme until I could not stand up," Sarma said.<\/p>\n
When Sarma was tried in court, she told the judges about her
\ntreatment, but they just laughed at her and called her a liar.
\nThe judges did not believe Sarma was able to withstand the abuse.<\/p>\n
Sarma was jailed for six months. Her husband received a one-
\nyear jail term. Her parents-in-law, who are Porsea natives, took
\ncare of the couple's two-year-old daughter Marissa.<\/p>\n
"Marissa and her grandmother tried to appeal to the president
\nin Jakarta. But their efforts were in vain," said Sarma, who was
\nborn and raised in the Riau capital, Pekanbaru.<\/p>\n
The family was finally reunited last year after Miduk was
\nreleased.<\/p>\n
Sarma has for a long time actively supported the Porsea
\npeople's demands to close PT Indorayon Inti Utama (IIU) ever
\nsince she first worked in Porsea in 1997. Sarma even met her
\nhusband during a rally against the pulp factory in the same year.<\/p>\n
"I am a priest. I convey God's message to my parish. God tells
\nus to respect other creatures -- the bugs, caterpillars, trees
\nand the environment. We have no right to damage God's
\ncreations," she said.<\/p>\n
Sarma said that she decided to join the Porsea people's
\nmovement against the reopening of Toba Pulp Lestari (TPL) because
\nshe did not want to defy God's orders.<\/p>\n
"I always convey God's orders to my congregation. I felt I had
\nto take a stand with the people in protecting our environment,"
\nshe said.<\/p>\n
The operation of the pulp mill, which first commenced in 1989,
\nwas suspended in October 1998 following protests regarding
\nenvironmental damage and rights violations from the people of
\nPorsea.<\/p>\n
But TPL was allowed to reopen in March 2002 after the company
\nagreed to comply with environmental laws and carry out social and
\ncommunity development programs to empower locals and small-scale
\ncompanies.<\/p>\n
"The reopening of the mill has created more of a burden for
\nlocals. It emits foul odors that very likely damage people's
\nhealth and it releases gasses and chemical waste that damage
\nfarmland. Why did the government allow it to reopen?" Sarma
\nasked.<\/p>\n
She said that she felt a little disappointed at the government
\nfor turning a deaf ear to the Porsea people's demand to close the
\nmill.<\/p>\n
She said that she would continue in her efforts to support the
\npeople of Porsea protect their environment, even though the
\nmovement had been slowly decreasing because of the arrest of its
\nleader, 70-year-old Musa Gurning.<\/p>\n
Gurning, a Muslim, was sentenced to three years in jail for
\nprovoking people to attack the district head office. In fact, at
\nthe time of the rally, he was 20 kilometers away in Balige,
\nmeeting the regent over the TPL issue.<\/p>\n
The 16 people were put to jail in the Balige penitentiary.
\nMusa, however, was later transferred to a penitentiary in
\nTarutung, hundreds of kilometers away from Porsea, allegedly to
\nreduce opposition from the people of Porsea.<\/p>\n
"We still have many leaders that side with the people," Sarma
\nsaid, referring to Father Hyginus Silaen.<\/p>\n
Father Silaen has been known to be in the forefront of the
\nPorsea people's movement. He had openly criticized TPL in his
\nsermons, which were always attended by thousands of people.<\/p>\n
"Nothing is impossible in this world. God will always be with
\nus," Sarma said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/defending-the-environment-for-god-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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