Traditional communities meet in Lombok, demand rights
Traditional communities meet in Lombok, demand rights
Luh Putu Trisna Wahyuni, The Jakarta Post, Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara
Delegates from some 450 traditional communities across the
archipelago concluded their second congress in Lombok, West Nusa
Tenggara, with a call for the government to restore their
customary rights.
They said in a joint statement here over the weekend that all
the major problems assailing the nation at the present time were
the result of the continued failure to honor their customary
rights.
According to the statement, the social conflicts that had
affected a number of regions, including Aceh, Papua, Maluku,
Kalimantan and Sulawesi, bribery during gubernatorial elections,
environmental degradation and the destruction of the country's
forests were closely connected with government policies that
deprived traditional groups and communities of their rights.
Nazarius, one of the organizers of the All-Indonesia
Traditional Community Congress (Kaman), accused the government of
looking down at ethnic groups and ignoring the roles they had
played in carrying out the country's development programs.
"The government's main fault is that it has closed its eyes to
the ongoing deprivation by many sides of customary rights in
favor of business and commercial interests," he said, stressing
that the government had yet to recognize their rights to manage
their own affairs and to utilize the natural resources found on
their customary lands.
"We are waiting for the appropriate time to take action
against the government's oppression of traditional communities
and the over-exploitation of their natural resources. Such action
is urgently needed to uphold our customary rights across the
country," he said, adding that the leaders of traditional
communities had consistently been excluded from negotiations
designed to seek comprehensive solutions to communal conflicts.
According to Nazarius, the government's development policy is
incapable of being implemented successfully as traditional and
tribal communities have never been asked to participate.
"The government should learn from the recent Timika clashes
between those for and against the establishment of Central Irian
Jaya province. It is possible in the future that Papuans will
take up arms in the traditional fashion to fight for
independence," he said.
West Lombok regent Iskandar conceded during the congress that
large numbers of people had been deprived of their social,
political and economic rights across the country.
"Despite the recognition of the rights of traditional
communities by the amended 1945 Constitution and the regional
autonomy law, they (traditional communities) still need to have
their positions in politics and the law strengthened so as to be
able to cope with the adverse consequences of globalization and
capitalism," he said.
According to Iskandar, traditional communities, which consist
of some 70 million members across the country, should be
empowered in line with the government's acceptance of traditional
rights, and their recognition by MPR Decree No. 9/2001 on land
reform and natural resources, and the human rights law.
Nazarius said the next congress would be held in 2007, but the
exact date and venue would be decided on later. The first such
congress was held in Jakarta in 1999.
He said that the congress had also resolved to designate March
17 as an annual day marking the national awakening of traditional
communities across the archipelago.
The chairman of the congress's steering committee, Djekaat,
said the congress also recommended the drawing up of an action
plan to preserve the customs and cultures of traditional
communities.
"We need regular contact and meetings to share experiences and
forge cooperation so as to preserve our own traditions and
cultures," he said.