W

ith only several days remaining before the government begins the filling process of the Jatigede reservoir in Sumedang regency, West Java, residents who will be affected by the dam used the recent Idul Fitri celebrations to gather and consolidate efforts to protest against the dam.

In Cipaku subdistrict, Darmaraja district, hundreds of Muslim residents gathered on Friday morning at Cipaku Square to not only perform Idul Fitri prayers, but also to share the latest developments in their ongoing efforts to postpone the dam-filling process, which is scheduled to begin on Aug. 1.

'€œAs of today, we have collected signatures from thousands of residents from affected subdistricts who oppose the dam filling. All the affected subdistricts are standing against the plan as long as social problems [triggered by the dam project] remain unresolved,'€ Cipaku subdistrict chief Didi Nurhadi said in a speech during the prayer gathering, held to mark the end of the Islamic fasting month of Ramadhan.

'€œI hope today will not be our last Idul Fitri in this village.'€

Cipaku, home to at least 800 families, is one of eight subdistricts in the regency that will be submerged if the Jatigede dam is completely filled.

The dam, set to be the country'€™s second largest, is considered crucial to ensuring Indonesia'€™s food security. It is built on 4,891 hectares of land covering 28 subdistricts over five districts in Sumedang. It will have the capacity to retain 979 million cubic meters of water to irrigate around 90,000 hectares of rice fields in Sumedang, Indramayu and Cirebon regencies.

Most of the families received compensation and agreed to relocate when construction on the project began in the early 1980s. However, the majority of them returned over the course of the following decade after learning that the project had stalled as a result of funding issues and other setbacks.

In response to local residents'€™ protest against the launching of the dam, President Joko '€œJokowi'€ Widodo has issued Presidential Regulation No. 1/2015 regarding the social impact of the dam'€™s construction that, among other things, divided the residents into two groups: those who receive Rp 122 million (US$9,088) compensation and those who get Rp 29 million in cash assistance. The money covers costs for purchasing land, building new houses and other relocation allowances.

Many local residents, however, are not pleased with the policy and have repeatedly asked the government to postpone filling the dam.

Didi, who also chairs a forum for local subdistrict chiefs, insisted that the government provide land for displaced residents in a new relocation site.

Local resident Aca Nurjaman supported Didi'€™s call. The 36-year-old man said he would not take the compensation payment offered by the government. '€œIf we take the money, what for? Our future remains unclear,'€ he said.

Local activist Rizky Ramdani, a member of a coaliton of NGOs that oppose the dam filling, said the coalition, with support from local officials, had managed to collect the signatures of 1,700 residents for a petition against the dam filling. The coalition, he said, was expecting that the petition will support legal measures taken by the residents, including their recent move to file for a judicial review with the Constitutional Court in relation to Presidential Regulation No. 1/2015.

'€œWe are hoping that the Court takes this petition into consideration,'€ he said.