Momentum of the BERBISIK Programme Supporting Inclusive Initiatives in Indramayu
PT Pertamina Patra Niaga Refinery Unit VI Balongan (formerly PT Kilang Pertamina Internasional Unit VI Balongan) provides the BERBISIK programme, or Berdaya, Berkolaborasi Inklusif, Inovasi, dan Karya. This programme, initiated in 2021, is an inclusive movement where the company seeks to create tiered empowerment through a structured approach to enhance community capabilities.
The location and targets of the BERBISIK programme are in ring I and ring II areas around the company’s operational region. These areas are located in two districts: Balongan Village, Cikedung Village, Lemahmekar Ward, Karangmalang Ward in Indramayu Regency, and Cibereum Village in Kuningan Regency.
The BERBISIK programme is driven by conditions of poverty, disabilities, and waste issues in Indramayu Regency, West Java. The region faces structural poverty, where part of the community relies on the informal sector with uncertain daily incomes.
The vulnerable economic conditions then impact disabled groups who tend to experience layered poverty, often facing discrimination and limited access to education, skills training, and decent job opportunities.
Ultimately, low education levels, lack of inclusive education facilities, and suboptimal implementation of inclusive employment trap the disabled in family economic dependency and social assistance.
Furthermore, local communities still face waste-related problems. In Indramayu, waste is an environmental issue with significant social, economic, and health implications. This is because high household waste generation and market activities are not matched by effective waste management systems.
Other issues include limited waste processing facilities, low waste sorting rates, and littering behaviour. This causes environmental pollution that also affects local community health.
For this reason, the BERBISIK programme introduces an inclusion-based social innovation model by opening active participation access for disabled groups and marginalised communities. Here, target groups are not just passive beneficiaries but positioned as main actors in the process of producing social, economic, and environmental value based on local commodities.
This strategic step is realised through various activities of the Kelompok Teman Istimewa in the Sub-Programme for Empowering Inclusive Special Friends (PERINTIS), which focuses on socio-economic aspects, and the Kelompok Wilayah Masyarakat Pengelola Daur Ulang Sampah (WIRALODRA), which focuses on environmental aspects. Thus, overall, this programme impacts the sustainability of local communities’ lives, both economically and environmentally.
Thanks to the BERBISIK programme, there has been capacity building for 9 deaf disabled individuals to become baristas, capacity building for 11 Poor Households (RTM) and 1 elderly person in waste management and integrated farming, capacity building for 32 Socially and Economically Vulnerable Women (PRSE) through eco-friendly local coffee farming.
In addition, the programme encourages capacity building for 55 inmates at LAPAS IIB Indramayu through integrated farming activities, and capacity building for SLB students in Indramayu Regency in inclusive workshops for 393 students.
Moreover, the BERBISIK programme has successfully alleviated poverty for 52 poor family heads and increased capacity for disabled and non-disabled individuals in waste management by 155 people.
From a social perspective, the programme initiated by Pertamina Patra Niaga RU VI Balongan has successfully formed 6 groups (Kelompok Teman Istimewa, Kelompok Wiralodra, Kelompok Bimasakti LAPAS, Kelompok Srikandi LAPAS, KWT Srikandi, and KALDERA), the birth of the Disability-Friendly Village Decree and Inclusive Services in Lemahmekar Ward, the birth of the Waste Education Centre Decree in Balongan Village, Kopi Teman Istimewa becoming the first inclusion space in Indramayu, and many other initiatives.
Meanwhile, from an economic perspective, the BERBISIK programme has enabled 9 deaf disabled baristas to have new income of Rp2,040,554 per month. Additionally, 11 RTM individuals and 1 elderly person receive new income of Rp2,038,307 per month through waste processing and integrated farming activities.
Furthermore, 32 PRSE individuals receive new income of Rp2,547,215 per month through eco-friendly local coffee farming activities. Next, 55 inmates receive new income of Rp1,351,334 per month through integrated farming activities at LAPAS.
The BERBISIK programme also encourages the emergence of 4 independent deafsociopreneur MSMEs for deaf disabled individuals resulting from inspiration and capacity-building activities at Teman Istimewa.
Other achievements include waste and used cooking oil management converted into alternative income sources for the community as a result of the PERISALTIK innovation (Solidified Plastic Waste Processed Product) worth Rp274,149,746 per year. The programme also generates sales turnover from Kopi Teman Istimewa and Creative Workshops reaching Rp222,858,662 per year.
Notably, the BERBISIK programme also produces significant environmental value, such as carbon emission reduction through plastic and organic waste management, reducing emissions by up to 223,228.8 kg CO2 equivalent per year, organic waste management of 1.8 tons per year, used cooking oil management of 240 litres per year, and plastic waste and coffee waste management of 3,804 tons per year.