Residents living in forest stirs dilemma
Residents living in forest stirs dilemma
Hasrul, The Jakarta Post, Kendari
La Abo's rest was disturbed by the presence of a number of
officials from the Southeast Sulawesi provincial administration
at the location where he lives last Thursday.
The middle-aged man suspiciously gazed at them one by one.
His seemed inhibited when answering questions about residents'
land ownership titles posed by the officials, and was annoyed and
emotional by some accusatory questions aimed at him.
Residents were stunned when La Abo shouted at the officials
who were accompanied by a team from the Ministry of Environment.
"We won't leave before the government replaces our land," he
shouted.
The man who has been living in the Murhum forest preserve
since 2000 said that the government only knew how to evict people
without providing any solutions.
"We are humans too, and we have the right to live in this
country," he lamented.
It was somewhat natural for La Abo to be frustrated because he
and the other residents had not been recognized by the
government. They have not been provided with identity cards
because they are regarded as illegitimate residents by the local
administration.
He said that the Punggaloba village chief, Mukadas, had not
accommodated residents of Kampung Baru. "He (Mukadas) said that
it was on the instruction of the mayor," said La Abo.
La Abo has been entrusted by residents as the secretary of
Kampung Baru. He said that he and the residents had been living
there since 2000. There were only 30 families living there at the
beginning, and had now increased to 98 families. The families
lived in the 50 hectares areas, used to be forest area.
Together they cleared land for residence and built an access
road from funds collected on a self-supporting basis.
The name Kampung Baru was based on mutual agreement. There is
no neighborhood or community unit, and day to day administration
is run together through deliberation.
Residents' houses are made of wood. The distance between each
house is about 20 meters. At least 100 houses have been built.
There is no electricity, and clean water stems from a spring
channeled to homes through pipes.
Abo said that the local administration had never forced them
to leave the area, but on the other hand, the Southeast Sulawesi
Forestry Office had come in 2000 not to expel them but to request
them to replant surrounding areas.
"We were provided with long-term tree seedlings," said Abo.
Abo hopes that the government recognizes them as official
residents.
However, his wish will not be granted by the government
willingly especially when the Murhum forest is a protected area.
The government deemed that their presence in the area would be
a threat to the lives of Kendari city residents living on the
foot of the Murhum forest preserve.
"Imagine that in 10 years time city residents will panic when
water debits begin to decrease and floods will loom any minute,"
said head of the Southeast Sulawesi chapter Provincial
Environment Impact Management Agency (Bapedalda), La Ode
Zakariah.
According to him, impacts may not be noticed now, but signs
have already been seen. "Water shortage and decreasing quality of
water in Benubenua area have been noticed in the past two years,
and erosion and floods are imminent," he said, adding that the
residents had to leave the area.
The Murhum forest preserve is not virgin anymore. Human hands
have tampered with it. Land clearance in the area from 1998 to
1999 has created a myriad of problems, whereas the 7,877.5-
hectare forest is expected to become the buffer area for Kendari.
The Murhum forest preserve should be protected for the sake of
the lives of people in Kendari. But on the other hand, the
government cannot simply dismiss people who had been living there
like animals.
Like what director of the Coastal and Outlying People
Empowerment Agency (Lepmil), Rustanto said, "This is dilemmatic."