Daily life goes on peacefully in Porsea despite continuing demos

Daily life goes on peacefully in Porsea despite continuing demos

Ridwan Max Sijabat, The Jakarta Post, Porsea, North Sumatra

Despite the much-criticized, planned reopening of pulp mills in Porsea, North Sumatra, daily life in the new regency of Toba- Samosir goes on peacefully. A majority of locals are indifferent to the issue as they concentrate on farming and fishing in rural areas and in trade and services in urban areas.

Church ministers and student activists have marched along the road leading to the pulp factory on an almost daily basis to protest against what they say is the environmental destruction caused by the mills.

Meanwhile, the management and staff of PT Toba Pulp Lestari (TPL), which runs the pulp business, is making final preparations to resume operations immediately, waiting for an official announcement from the government to the public.

The two factory's were closed by the government in 1998 following strong opposition from numerous organizations citing environmental degradation.

Most locals have become apathetic since the issue has contributed nothing new to their daily lives and, instead, entrusted the local administration to deal with it for the sake of the common people.

B. Manik, a resident of Sirait Uruk village in Porsea district, said the villagers had returned to their farmland after learning they had been abused for an issue they knew little about.

"Most residents in the village no longer join the anti-Indo Rayon protest as they have gained nothing but suffering and found themselves in conflict with other groups. Both sides actually know nothing about the issue. Life has been returning to peace ... residents no longer want to get involved in the issue.

"Most residents have returned to their farmland, instead of joining the anti-Indo Rayon protest, to earn money because the pulp issue has given us a new lesson that the polemic has brought social friction to the Batak community in the region," he told The Jakarta Post here over the weekend.

Many residents of Parapat, a tourist resort on the edge of Lake Toba, and the nearby district of Lumban Julu concurred, saying they had entrusted the government to determine the pulp mills' fate.

A. Siahaan, a retired civil servant from Porsea, said the pulp mill issue had been highly politicized both at home and overseas, "but not for the sake of the people in the regency."

"Local people, students and religious leaders have been abused by the political elite with financial support from local and foreign businessmen who oppose the presence of the pulp mills in the regency with environmental and social issues. What a pity the uneducated locals have been misinformed and disinformed on the pulp mills and its hazards to the environment," he alleged.

Siahaan, who claimed to be neutral on the pulp issue, said most people had become apathetic because the government had given a green light to the factory's planned reopening and "what certain sides have long described as environmental disaster from the pulp mills is actually an exaggeration."

He said that despite the green light, the people would continue to remain cautious on environmental hazards that would possibly be raised by the mills in its daily operations and they would stage a militant resistance once the factory was allowed to resume operations.

Minister of Manpower and Transmigration Jacob Nua Wea, representing the government, visited Porsea to give the local administration permission for the mills to resume operations.

The government's move drew protests from some people in Porsea, including some religious leaders and an alliance of nongovernmental organizations.

Some 16 locals, including two Protestant church ministers, are facing charges following the ransacking of the district head's office in Porsea during an anti-Indo Rayon demonstration involving hundreds of people in the small town last November.

"We are examining the suspects' dossiers to be brought to court in the near future," a government prosecutor's office staff member in Balige said.

About 150 villagers, including church ministers and student activists, staged a peaceful demonstration near the plant site over the weekend, demanding local authorities release their 16 detained colleagues and reject the presence of Toba Pulp Lestari, now named PT Inti Indo Rayon Utama (IIU).

The demonstrators, mostly women, brandished banners, sang local folk songs and distributed anti-TPL pamphlets.

Pastor Hyginus Silaen OFM Cap who led the peaceful demonstration told the demonstrators that the government had no alternative but to close the pulp mills permanently as it had damaged the environment and brought suffering to locals.

"No audit. No laboratory. The pulp mills must be closed down," he said. "We will continue the demonstration until the factory stops operations permanently."

He criticized security authorities's arrogance in handling the recent demonstration that led to the arrest of 16 demonstrators, saying local authorities should be held responsible for what he labeled as human rights violation.

The district court turned down last week a lawsuit filed by an alliance of nongovernmental organizations against local police over they called the arbitrary arrest of the 16 suspects.

The local administration said it had decided to allow TPL to resume operations to help accelerate the economic development of the least-developed new regency and to lure more investors to invest in the regency.

P. Simbolon, secretary of the regency administration, called on nongovernmental organizations to stop their anti-Indo Rayon campaign to gain financial support by abusing uneducated locals.

"Nevertheless, we respect the minority group's views. But, we will go ahead with our decision to allow the pulp mills' reopening to provide at least 1,500 job opportunities for locals and contribute at least Rp 550 billion in annual tax and retribution payments to the local administration," he said, adding no investors would come to the regency should the pulp mills, established in 1988, be closed down.

He said the government would audit the factory's performance annually and it would be closed down permanently should it be found to be damaging the environment beyond tolerable limits.

"Before the people take action, the government will firstly close the pulp mills should it violate all requirements set for the pulp mills' reopening," he said, adding the local administration was still learning from the Kerinci and Tangerang administrations on how to develop pulp mills in the two regencies.

Wagimin Wongso, president of TPL, said that besides having a strong commitment to repairing its bad image in the past, the company was prepared to grant a certain percentage of the company's shares to the local administration.

He said TPL, a majority of whose shares is owned by two groups of investors in Hong Kong and Boston, would use advanced technology to reduce environmental hazards to a minimum and carry out local community development projects to win the support of the local people.

"We're ready to stop operations permanently should we violate environmental regulations," he said.