Letter: When greed confronts history

I am a native of Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, and I am very fortunate to be studying anthropology in Australia.

I am interested in land rights for indigenous peoples and have travelled extensively across Sumbawa Besar researching my master’s thesis, which I had hoped to present to the Australian National University.

I have become interested in the Cek Bocek indigenous community group in Lawin village in the Ropang District of Sumbawa regency, and their efforts to be recognized by the central government, the surrounding community and local government.

This is a theme parallel to the indigenous land rights claim in Australia by Eddy Mabo, which saw the High Court of Australia recognize the claim of indigenous ownership.

The Cek Bocek claim ownership over 29,000 hectares of what they say is sacred ancestral land in Suri and Selesek, which is in the middle of the proposed gold exploration area leased to US mining company PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara by the Sumbawa regency government.

The Cek Bocek group has Anggo, who is striving for recognition for the Cek Bocek people in order to stop their traditional lands being released for gold exploration without proper negotiation and consideration for the their ancestral rights.

Conducting research with people from Lawin, Ropang and Lenangguar villages, it emerged that two people from the Cek Bocek group, known to me as Sukanda and Anggo, have been using their “sacred land” for commercial purposes.

It was reported to me that they had sold many parts of their sacred land to more than 200 people from Lawin, Ropang and Lenangguar.

I was saddened to hear this and were it not for the abundant evidence in the form of letters of land tax payments and certificates of land ownership deeds, issued from 2004 to 2007 on land located within the Newmont exploration area, I would have thought it a lie.

This has meant I must reevaluate all my research and have wasted much time and money. What happened to the Cek Bocek group’s principle of guarding their sacred land in Dodo, Selesek and Suri?

Eko Farhat
Jakarta