Defending the environment for God

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Her love of God has led Sarma Siregar to jail. But the softly spoken lady has never regretted it.

"That is the consequence if you decide to serve God with full commitment," she told The Jakarta Post during an interview recently.

Sarma, 32, was among 16 people jailed by a court for damaging the Porsea district head's office during a rally opposing the plan to reopen pulp factory Toba Pulp Lestari (formerly PT Indorayon Inti Utama) in North Sumatra in November 2002.

Sarma, who is a church minister, was on her way home after preparing for the Christmas celebration at her Huria Batak Kristen Protestant (HKBP) church when she saw angry crowds on the Porsea main road on Nov. 21.

"I saw a member of my congregation among them. I asked him what had happened and he said that they had tried to meet the district head to convey their opposition to the plan to reopen the pulp factory," she said.

Sarma later told the crowd to calm down and went to see the district head, whose family name was also Siregar, and asked him to meet the crowd outside. He refused.

This made the protesters angry. Several of them threw rocks at the office and smashed two window panes.

Police later dispersed the crowd. As she walked in the street, she saw several police officers beating up her husband, Miduk Sirait, who is also a church minister.

While Sarma was still in shock at seeing her husband being beaten up, the police arrested her. Her husband was also among the 16 people jailed.

"The police forced me to sign a document saying that I was a provocateur, referring to my sermons. I refused. They later beat me until I could not stand up," Sarma said.

When Sarma was tried in court, she told the judges about her treatment, but they just laughed at her and called her a liar. The judges did not believe Sarma was able to withstand the abuse.

Sarma was jailed for six months. Her husband received a one- year jail term. Her parents-in-law, who are Porsea natives, took care of the couple's two-year-old daughter Marissa.

"Marissa and her grandmother tried to appeal to the president in Jakarta. But their efforts were in vain," said Sarma, who was born and raised in the Riau capital, Pekanbaru.

The family was finally reunited last year after Miduk was released.

Sarma has for a long time actively supported the Porsea people's demands to close PT Indorayon Inti Utama (IIU) ever since she first worked in Porsea in 1997. Sarma even met her husband during a rally against the pulp factory in the same year.

"I am a priest. I convey God's message to my parish. God tells us to respect other creatures -- the bugs, caterpillars, trees and the environment. We have no right to damage God's creations," she said.

Sarma said that she decided to join the Porsea people's movement against the reopening of Toba Pulp Lestari (TPL) because she did not want to defy God's orders.

"I always convey God's orders to my congregation. I felt I had to take a stand with the people in protecting our environment," she said.

The operation of the pulp mill, which first commenced in 1989, was suspended in October 1998 following protests regarding environmental damage and rights violations from the people of Porsea.

But TPL was allowed to reopen in March 2002 after the company agreed to comply with environmental laws and carry out social and community development programs to empower locals and small-scale companies.

"The reopening of the mill has created more of a burden for locals. It emits foul odors that very likely damage people's health and it releases gasses and chemical waste that damage farmland. Why did the government allow it to reopen?" Sarma asked.

She said that she felt a little disappointed at the government for turning a deaf ear to the Porsea people's demand to close the mill.

She said that she would continue in her efforts to support the people of Porsea protect their environment, even though the movement had been slowly decreasing because of the arrest of its leader, 70-year-old Musa Gurning.

Gurning, a Muslim, was sentenced to three years in jail for provoking people to attack the district head office. In fact, at the time of the rally, he was 20 kilometers away in Balige, meeting the regent over the TPL issue.

The 16 people were put to jail in the Balige penitentiary. Musa, however, was later transferred to a penitentiary in Tarutung, hundreds of kilometers away from Porsea, allegedly to reduce opposition from the people of Porsea.

"We still have many leaders that side with the people," Sarma said, referring to Father Hyginus Silaen.

Father Silaen has been known to be in the forefront of the Porsea people's movement. He had openly criticized TPL in his sermons, which were always attended by thousands of people.

"Nothing is impossible in this world. God will always be with us," Sarma said.