The West Kalimantan unrest, its roots and solution

By R. Masri Sareb Putra

JAKARTA (JP): The incident of Sanggau Ledo in West Kalimantan is unique and therefore a source of interest to many observers.

Different from the Situbondo, Tasikmalaya and Rengasdengklok riots, the Sanggau Ledo unrest, which started at the end of 1996 and continued into February of this year, is extremely difficult to analyze and is giving investigators a hard time. What spawned the unrest?

If we understood the background and history leading to the incident, we may find it possible to endeavor an explanation.

The conflict actually stemmed from excesses in development. The past decade saw an increase in the local population's gross domestic product from Rp 3.2 million in 1986 to Rp 4.6 million in 1991 based on constant prices in 1983. The other side of the coin was that poverty struck certain places. The result was the emergence of social envy.

In the past two decades, ethnic conflicts occurred eight times in the province. The reasons for the conflicts were very slight. Unrest broke out because one ethnic group felt offended. The incidents were not immediately settled and therefore were allowed to grow into open conflict.

The unrest in Sanggau Ledo was triggered in such a way. It started with a Madurese making a crude remark to a Dayak woman. This triggered anger between the two ethnic groups and resulted in the stabbing of two Dayaks.

Security forces should also be held responsible for the massive unrest because they did not immediately settle the incident.

When the Sanggau Ledo incident grew into clashes of considerable proportions, the authorities realized too late that they had made a fatal error. They belittled the people and hurt their feelings. The price of this was high. They should pick the fruit from this valuable lesson.

Army Chief Gen. Hartono has often said implicitly that the West Kalimantan conflict was never unrest sparked by ethnic groups (Dayak and Madura). It was caused by many things, the solution for which should involve many ministries and many parties.

What does this mean? Should the settlement of the case involve the ministries of transmigration, forestry, communications, social affairs and religious affairs, the National Development Planning Board, the House of Representatives, NGOs and local social figures?

Social problems became a crucial issue at the time West Kalimantan was opened to outsiders in 1991, when a legal entry point was built in Entekong which connected Pontianak and Kuching by land. Consequently cultural clashes among many ethnic groups could not be avoided and the indigenous population underwent cultural shock.

The vast Kalimantan forests contain enormous wealth which attracts investors and entrepreneurs to obtain exploitation rights. With a territory surface of 146,700 square kilometers, West Kalimantan possesses 6.39 percent of Indonesia's forest area.

In the past five years felling of trees in West Kalimantan has reached disproportionate dimensions. Mutual expropriation of land is common fare among exploitation rights holders, thereby making victims of the local population. While the outsiders feverishly felled trees, the local people were branded as thieves when they cut down just one tree for household use. Is this not a portrait of injustice?

The Ministry of Religious Affairs can join local religious leaders (clergymen and kyai) in building a common awareness among local inhabitants in saying that Pancasila is the only principle and tool for unity. Attitudes of tolerance, restraint in showing off wealth, refraining from proselytizing people who belong to another religions, are things which strongly need to be developed in this equatorial region.

The Ministry of Mines and Energy also needs to join in the search for a solution to the West Kalimantan unrest, because in fact what opened the door ever wider for the incidents in West Kalimantan is the offense and anger felt by the local population. They did not get sufficient compensation for their land in the vicinity of the Monterado gold mining project. Not many people know that a protest took place in early 1996, launched by local landowners and workers of the Monterado gold mines, who took the law into their own hands against the foreign company managing the gold mines.

If only all sides managing the central gold mines in Sanggau Ledo learned from history, the uprising need not have taken place. History shows that the Ledo mines have always harbored conflict. From the Dutch Indies colonial times the locality has been a place of contention and sowed the seeds for mass fights. From that time on the place has been a "gold center" and until the early days of independence there were still many trading groups which eventually perished as a result of fighting.

No less important is the part played by the transmigration ministry. The Dayak community of West Kalimantan residing in Greater Jakarta stated on Feb. 14, 1997 that transmigration should be managed more wisely. The lack of judgment in placing transmigrants, as has been the case so far, is admittedly one of the causes of unrest in West Kalimantan. The local inhabitants feel their existence is threatened by transmigrants, they feel marginalized by land ownership and the facilities obtained by the newcomers.

Compared to other outbreaks, the unrest in West Kalimantan demanded the highest number of victims, both in lives and property. From the aspect of time, the conflict lasted so long that it nearly paralyzed the local economy.

Fortunately there are encouraging signs of peace attempts by various sides, especially by the contending two ethnic groups. The consequences of the unrest are still being felt. If the problems are not handled in an integrated and professional way, disaster will certainly strike the province. Now the supply of the nine essential food commodities from outside Kalimantan and from abroad like Sarawak and Malaysia are scarce. Prices have automatically rocketed.

It is fortunate that many sides have tried to mediate in solving the conflict between the two ethnic groups. This is good so long as it is all done in the context of justice. But the right thing to do would be for the two disputing ethnic groups to arrive at a solution themselves.

The potential for conflict may be found everywhere, but we were surprised the West Kalimantan incident became so worrisome. It is really hard to explain.

The most precious lesson to be derived from the incident is that in development the local community should not be made lookers-on.

R. Masri Sareb Putra is an observer of ethnological and sociocultural matters. He hails from West Kalimantan and now lives in Jakarta.