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Jakarta Post

Crisis threatens Orang Rimba'€™s traditional way of life

On the edge: A family of the Orang Rimba tribe lives in a flimsy hut deep in the jungle of Jambi

Jon Afrizal (The Jakarta Post)
Jambi
Sat, March 14, 2015

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Crisis threatens Orang Rimba'€™s traditional way of life

O

span class="inline inline-center">On the edge: A family of the Orang Rimba tribe lives in a flimsy hut deep in the jungle of Jambi. Unchecked deforestation has increasingly marginalized the tribal people. JP/Iman D. Nugroho

Facing malnutrition and surrounded by industrial expansion and environmental damage, some Orang Rimba members are mulling whether to give up a part of their nomadic way of life.

Manti Ngelembo, one of the leaders of the Orang Rimba indigenous community, also known as Suku Anak Dalam, said in a meeting with representatives from the Batanghari regency administration that the Orang Rimba wanted to engage in farming, provided land was made available for them to cultivate, as their jungle had been converted into oil palm plantations, or industrial forests.

'€œWe once discussed this with a plantation company, which promised to give us 114 hectares of land, but it remains in doubt up to now,'€ said Ngelembo.

He added that if they were provided with land, they would manage it, and if they needed to wander far to mourn the death of a relative, or melangun, not all of them would go so they could still tend to the farms they owned.

Melangun is a strong tradition among the Orang Rimba, which involves moving from one place to another especially after the death of a relative, so as to physically put their sorrows behind them

Batanghari Regent Sinwan said his office would help mediate the Orang Rimba issue with plantation companies so they would allocate some land for the Orang Rimba from the Terap clan.

The Batanghari regency administration, Garuda Putih 042 Military Command and the Jambi Police on Thursday jointly provided aid, including health care, to the Orang Rimba community from the Tumenggung Marituha, Nyenong and Ngamal clans in Sungai Kemang, located in the administrative area of Olak Besar village, Bathin XXIV district, Batanghari.

As many as 101 adults and children from the clans were treated at three health posts set up by the joint team to treat medical problems faced by the Orang Rimba due to food shortages after going on the melangun.

As many as 11 of the tribespeople died during melangun over the past several months.

During medical examination, four-year-old Mesinyo Bungo was diagnosed as suffering from malnutrition and it was recommended that Mesinyo receive treatment in a hospital.

Mesinyo'€™s father Nawan, said he would discuss with his clan leader, the Tumenggung, whether his child should be treated in a hospital or remain in the jungle.

However, Nawan added that he really wanted to get treatment for his sick child, who had been suffering from high fever, coughing and malnutrition for the past two months. Two of his other children died from the same illnesses in January.

Members of the clan said the crisis began when they drank contaminated river water as a result of which many of them fell sick so they then went on melangun and experienced food shortages, which resulted in the deaths. They then resumed the melangun and moved to seven locations in the past three months.

The 11 Orang Rimba fatalities were in Bukit Duabelas National Park.

The Terap clan, currently on melangun following the deaths of its members, is reported to be facing a food and clean-water crisis. Most of them are also suffering from fever, coughing and skin ailments.

Last week, four children from the Terap clan were taken to a hospital in Batanghari regency '€” two of them were treated as inpatients but the four were only a few of the many children of the tribe in need of food, water and medicine.

Warsi Indonesian Conservation Community (KKI Warsi) program coordinator Robert Aritonang said it was crucial for stakeholders to allocate land to the Orang Rimba for them to live on. According to law, plantation companies are obliged to allocate 5 percent of their concession areas to the local community.

'€œWith the land allocation, the Orang Rimba could gradually build their lives to become more independent so they can provide security to their children and grandchildren in the future,'€ said Aritonang.

Since the 1980s the group'€™s customary forests have been exploited as the government has turned them into oil palm plantations and developed infrastructure that has encroached on their territory.

KKI Warsi has recorded that there are a total of 3,850 Orang Rimba, many of whom have been forced to travel long distances without being able to feed themselves properly, leading to malnutrition.

The local administration has said that due to their nomadic way of life and the difficult terrain, it is very difficult to track the tribe members to give them aid.

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