Beutong Ateuh: Mining Permits Issued While Still Recovering from Flash Floods

“No, still no. Because we are the ones who feel the impact. Even before the mines arrived, we were hit by disasters. Even if they say it won’t affect our plantations, how can they extract what is inside without cutting down the trees?”

These words were spoken by Mak Andari and Mak Discus when discussing Beutong Ateuh, the place where they were born and have lived for decades. Both appeared emotional, before returning to collect fallen candlenut seeds in their garden.

Candlenut is the primary plantation crop for the community in Beutong Ateuh Banggalang, Nagan Raya, Aceh. Residents also cultivate cocoa, areca nut, and various secondary crops.

Mak Andari, Mak Agus, and other women in the buffer zone of the Leuser Ecosystem typically sell candlenut seeds to collectors for Rp7,000 per kilogram. They consider this income sufficient to meet their daily needs.

“We still eat three times a day here, even with simple side dishes. Ferns and eggplant grow wild; we just pick them for vegetables and salads,” Mak Andari and Mak Agus said in unison.

More than a decade ago, the residents of Beutong Ateuh faced PT Emas Mineral Murni (EMM). The conflict lasted a long time until, in 2020, the Supreme Court revoked the company’s Mining Business Licence (IUP).

Six years after that decision, two mining exploration permits have been re-issued in Beutong Ateuh, one each for the copper companies PT Alam Cempaka Wangi (ACW) and PT Hasil Bumi Sembada (HBS).

This anxiety arises amidst the ongoing recovery process of Beutong Ateuh from the massive floods that occurred late last year.

Disaster Looms

Mak Agus still remembers the flash flood on 26 November 2025. Before the flood arrived, the unusual change in the river’s water levels had put residents on alert.