Gap in understanding of natives revealed
Gap in understanding of natives revealed
JAKARTA (JP): A gap in the understanding of indigenous
peoples was revealed on Friday during the third day of a congress
of indigenous peoples.
Officials addressing the congress, using terms such as
"backward communities" and "isolated people", their definitions
of progress and prosperity, national interest and empowerment,
were among issues which drew scathing criticism by some 250
participants at the congress, the first of its kind.
Representatives from the Ministry of Social Affairs, the
Ministry of Forestry and Plantations and the Ministry of Mines
and Energy addressed the congress.
State Minister of Agrarian Affairs Hasan Basri Durin was the
only minister who attended the congress. The Ministry of Defense
and Security was not represented at the forum.
Representatives waited patiently for their turn to address
officials, and the atmosphere was heated as most were emotional.
Officials had said policies of their respective ministries
were "beginning to respond to the era of reform", saying new
policies on land, plantations and mining would respect and take
into account the interests of indigenous people.
But participants said such efforts were too late for the
survival of their people.
"Do not wait for new laws," a representative from Riau in
Sumatra said. "Stop exploitation of resources right now."
Another representative, citing environmental destruction from
a pulp and rayon mill in North Sumatra, shouted, "There is no way
we can prosper and participate in development when we cannot even
breathe the air."
On the same day the government decided to temporarily suspend
the operation of the plant of PT Inti Indorayon Utama.
A representative of the Rimba people in Jambi province quietly
said the only thing his people needed from the government was an
end to environmental destruction.
"We do not need houses or anything," Tengganai Meratai said.
"We only request that the remaining forest area be left to us,
that no more clearing of forest take place."
The Rimba people, comprising some 3,000 families, are being
resettled but most of the homes for the resettlement remain
empty.
An expert at the Ministry of Mines and Energy said that mining
regulations stated that sacred places were barred from mining
activities. However, a leader from East Nusa Tenggara, Petrus
Almet, said that 800 tons of marble, considered sacred by his
people, had not yet been returned.
"We make our living in animal husbandry and farming; if marble
is to be processed we take it from other places," Petrus, chief
of the Amatan people, told The Jakarta Post.
On the sidelines of the congress, renown sociologist Selo
Soemardjan said the government rarely heeded researchers'
recommendations made in the interest of local peoples.
Minister Hasri said one difficulty in land cases concerning
indigenous peoples, was land ownership rights of indigenous
people were not always clear.
The congress, organized by 13 non-governmental organizations,
also featured a demonstration by women participants.
The women protested, among other things, mining operations
which they claimed caused a variety of birth defects.
Women sang and carried posters at the traffic circle in from
of Hotel Indonesia, the site of the congress.
One poster read "Annul Law No. 5/1979", referring to the law
on village administration. While the House of Representatives is
deliberating a new autonomy law, organizers said Law No. 5/1979
directly affected indigenous people.
Representatives of the women demanded "the rejection of all
forms of massive natural resource exploitation... leading to the
loss of land... needed to support families". (anr/01)