Laman fights for communal land<\/p>\n
Haidir Anwar Tanjung, The Jakarta Post, Pekanbaru Riau<\/p>\n
Talang Mamak is one of the tribes living in isolation in the Riau
\njungle. The tribespeople lead a modest life without formal
\nleaders. The tribal chief holds a traditional position handed
\ndown from one generation to another.<\/p>\n
Known as a hinterland tribe, the Talang Mamak now number only
\nabout 6,000 and depend for their lives on the natural resources
\nfound in the Bukit Tigapuluh National Forest Park in Riau's
\nIndragiri Hulu regency.<\/p>\n
Deep in the forest, there is one person whom these people
\nrespect and obey. Simple in appearance and proud of his
\nancestors' traditions, Patih Laman, an 80-year-old man of small
\nbuild and with shoulder-length gray hair, is the leader of the
\nTalang Mamak people.<\/p>\n
"Patih", a position equal to that of a deputy regent in modern
\nIndonesian society, is the highest position among the Talang
\nMamak people. Patih Laman, the 62nd person in his family line to
\nassume this position, ascended to the chieftainship when he was
\n15.<\/p>\n
Laman has devoted all his life to his people in Durian Cacar
\nvillage, Kelayang district, Indragiri Hulu regency. He realizes
\nthat the Talang Mamak people are marginalized and hardly any of
\nthem are formally educated. Bereft of his wife only two years
\nago, Laman, like virtually everybody else in his community, is
\nilliterate.<\/p>\n
Nevertheless, Laman, who is a father of four, is considered a
\nrole model for his people because he is a very responsible
\nperson. Despite his illiteracy, he has done everything in his
\npower to defend the tribe's communal land and forest.<\/p>\n
In 1973, he witnessed how in the name of development, their
\nancestral land changed ownership. Meranti and other trees were
\nfelled. About 200 hectares of their forest was denuded and
\ncoconut palm trees were planted there instead.<\/p>\n
The Talang Mamak used to grow sialang, trees that usually
\nattract honey bees. From one sialang tree, they could collect at
\nleast 150 kg of honey. The Talang Mamak earned some money from
\nselling this honey. Unfortunately, there are now only 10 sialang
\ntrees left in their forest.<\/p>\n
"This is a great disaster for us. We rely on forest produce
\nfor our lives," Laman told The Jakarta Post, who visited his
\nstilted and bark-walled house, his hand pointing to the vast
\ncoconut palm plantation stretching far off into the distance in
\nfront of his home.<\/p>\n
As the years went by, and again in the name of economic
\ndevelopment, their ancestral land became an easy target for PT
\nPerkebunan Nusantara IV, a state-owned estate company determined
\nto convert the forest land into a plantation. Finding this
\nintolerable, Laman mobilized his people to resist the plan.<\/p>\n
Under Laman, the Talang Mamak have been putting up strong
\nresistance and are always ready to shed their blood to save their
\nforest. They had to admit defeat, however, during the repressive
\nNew Order regime of Soeharto.<\/p>\n
"Our communal forest sustained repeated destruction. The New
\nOrder destroyed the pillars of our lives," he said, dragging
\ndeeply on his clove-flavored cigarette. "Our forest has been
\ndestroyed."<\/p>\n
He said that the Talang Mamak actually possessed some 100,000
\nhectares of communal land in the 128,000-hectare national park.
\nToday, only 12,000 hectares are left as the rest has been
\nconverted into transmigration sites, timber estates controlled by
\nforest concessionaires, and coconut palm plantations.<\/p>\n
"If we had not put up a fight, there would be nothing left of
\nour land," he said sadly.<\/p>\n
It is only natural that Laman has never stopped making efforts
\nto save the Talang Mamak's forest, an area rich not only in
\nmeranti and ramin trees, from which quite expensive timber is
\nobtained, but also with other rare flora and fauna.<\/p>\n
There are at least 192 species of rare bird, 59 species of
\nmammal, including tigers and Malayan tapirs, and 660 species of
\nplant, among which are Rafflesia arnoldi, a kind of fungus
\nlocally known as the muka rimau fungus, Igunura sp, locally known
\nas mapau kalui and Johannestejsmania altifrons, locally called
\nsalo.<\/p>\n
Realizing that the use of force would be useless in defending
\ntheir forest, Laman tried to establish social and political
\nrelations with the local bureaucracy, hoping that they would
\nsupport the Talang Mamak's effort to fight oppression and resist
\nattempts to rob them of their ancestral rights to their communal
\nland. On one occasion, Laman even walked 40 kilometer just to see
\npeople from the local district administration.<\/p>\n
He began his struggle at the district level and then went
\nhigher to the regency level, and finally brought the case to the
\nattention of the governor of Riau. Unfortunately, all his
\nprotests fell on deaf ears. His efforts brought him bad luck as
\none day he was accused of being a communist, a label slapped on
\nhim after he took some of his people to stage a protest rally at
\nthe offices of the Riau governor in the 1990s.<\/p>\n
What did Laman, who has now got 16 grandchildren and 4 great
\ngrandchildren, say about this accusation of being a Communist?<\/p>\n
"I'm illiterate and know nothing about Communism. As you
\naccuse me of being a member of the Indonesian Communist Party
\n(PKI), and say that the PKI is all about, then you, Mr Governor,
\nmust be a PKI member also," he told Soeripto, the then Riau
\ngovernor. Soeripto said nothing.<\/p>\n
As part of his indefatigable efforts to defend the 12,000
\nhectares of communal land left to his people, Laman, with the
\nhelp of some environmental non-governmental organizations, met
\nthe House Speaker and the chairman of the National Commission on
\nHuman Rights in Jakarta. His unceasing efforts bore fruit as
\nPresident Soeharto issued a decree handing over the 12,000
\nhectares of forest to the Talang Mamak. Now that they have this
\ndecree, any attempt to take over the land has been and will be
\nfoiled.<\/p>\n
Laman recalled his experiences during the time of Indonesia's
\nfirst president, Sukarno. In the old days, Siak, the largest
\nsultanate in the Malay Peninsula, with its seat in Riau's Siak
\nregency, supported Indonesia's proclamation of independence, and
\nthe Talang Mamak people were assured that they were fully
\nentitled to their forest.<\/p>\n
"When Pak Karno (President Sukarno) was president, not even
\none inch of our land was seized. We even got back the land once
\ncontrolled by the Dutch. After Pak Karno was replaced, we lost
\nnearly all our land. We don't have enough land today as our
\npopulation is growing," he explained.<\/p>\n
Thanks to his insistent and tireless struggle, Laman was
\nawarded a citation from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF)
\nInternational for Conservation in November 1999 in recognition of
\nhis great efforts in defending his people's communal rights and
\nland.<\/p>\n
Ironically, it was only shortly before his departure to
\nMalaysia to receive the citation that Laman obtained his local
\nidentity card.<\/p>\n
"If I had not had to go to Malaysia, I would still be without
\nthis identity card," he said smiling. Possession of an identity
\ncard is a prerequisite for applying for a passport.<\/p>\n
Laman has not yet reached the end of his struggle, though. He
\nis fighting to get the Indragiri Hulu regency administration to
\nissue a regional regulation confirming the Talang Mamak's rights
\nover their communal land. This effort should bear fruit soon. In
\nApril this year, Indragiri Hulu regent, Raja Tamhsir Rachman,
\ndrafted a regional regulation to protect the Talang Mamak'
\ncommunal land.<\/p>\n
"This regional regulation will entitle each Talang Mamak group
\nto a plot of land measuring 600 hectares and this land is
\nentirely theirs. We are grateful to the regent for the great
\nattention he has paid to us. Still, I will push further for the
\nallotments to be increased. We now have more children and
\ngrandchildren, you see," said Laman.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/laman-fights-for-communal-land-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}