Hundreds of residents of the Kendeng mountainous area of Central Java carried mounds of ketupat (rice cooked in coconut leaf casings) as part of a ritual on Wednesday evening symbolizing their rejection of the planned construction of a cement plant in the area.

The residents, including scores of women decked out traditional attire, carried ketupat in baskets and in their scarves, from the villages of Tegaldowo and Timbrangan in Gunem district and the village of Bitingan in Sale district, Rembang regency. The theme of the protest procession was Kupatan Gunung Kendeng, which translates as '€œgreeting nature, preserving tradition.'€

Led by Muslim cleric Gus Ubaidillah, they chanted praises to God and the Prophet Muhammad during the ritual.

Ubaidillah labeled those who destroyed their natural surroundings as criminals. '€œTherefore, we must fight for justice, which has no expiry date. It could be 10 or even 20 years more, or even an hour before the end of the world,'€ he said.

Meanwhile, Mount Kendeng Community Awareness Network coordinator Joko Prianto said that the ritual was designed to encourage the entire community to care about the Kendeng mountain range and furthermore to encourage people to preserve the environment and strongly oppose the construction of the Rembang cement plant launched by PT Semen Indonesia.

According to Joko, data revealed that some 49 caves were found in the area, four of them containing active underground rivers.

Around 900 hectares of residents'€™ land was at risk of being turned into quarries for lime rock, a raw material to produce cement, he said.

However, despite some objections, it turns out that are some residents in Rembang who welcome the presence of the cement plant. They also held a rally in support of the cement plant project because its presence would provide them with job opportunities.

Community harmony is at stake due to tensions between the two opposite camps. They are at odds not only during rallies, but also during everyday life. In Tegaldowo, for example, many homes expressed their objection to the cement plant by pasting protest posters and writing graffiti on their walls. However, some of the homes are clean of posters and graffiti.

'€œExtended families have also broken up. We'€™re sad all because of a cement plant. Data derived from the Rembang regency administration in the middle of 2014 revealed that PT Semen Indonesia did not own land for mining. However, some of the residents'€™ land has been sold to other parties which we believe are in extended hands of the cement company, but I'€™m not sure,'€ said Joko.

During the Kupatan Gunung Kendeng ritual, the women who carried the ketupat divided the ketupat among the residents, including the family of the Tegaldowo village chief who they believed to be in favor of the cement plant project.

Contacted separately by The Jakarta Post on Thursday, Corporate Secretary of PT Semen Indonesia Agung Wiharto admitted that there were pros and cons in the planned construction of the cement plant.

'€œ[But] 90 percent of residents support the construction of the cement plant,'€ claimed Agung.

Earlier, the company'€™s president director Dwi Soetjipto said that the construction of the cement plant would go ahead, despite a legal challenge launched by some residents and an environmental group at the local administrative court.

Construction on the Rembang facility began in June, and is expected to start production in 2016. The new plant will have the capacity to produce 3 million tons of cement per year. The factory is being built on 55 hectares of land located near a limestone quarry.

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