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aving returned home from Jakarta to stage a protest against the construction of a cement factory in their area, farmers from Mount Kendeng in Central Java are still fighting to get their voices heard.

Gunarti, Sukinah and Gunretno from North Kendeng expressed their concerns to academicians, environmentalists and the local administration during the Women Reading Environmental Impact Analysis (Amdal) forum at the Soegijapranata Catholic University (UKS) in Semarang on Thursday.

Speaking in Javanese, the farmers spoke of the damage the cement factory would do to the mountainous North Kendeng regency.

Most farmers on Mt. Kendeng live in the village of Tegaldowo in Gunem district, near the under-construction factory. During the dry season, they grow side-crops and during the rainy season, they grow rice.

According to Gunarti, even in times of drought, the village’s wells do not dry up; villagers believe the water is retained in the mountainous area.

“If the springs are damaged, we’ll have to buy water. We need water from the moment we wake up in the morning for cooking, washing, bathing, livestock and farming. If the springs in our area are damaged by limestone quarrying for cement, what will our fate be?” asked Gunarti.

Meanwhile, Gunretno told the forum that he had been told by a number of experts that the cement factory would have a harmful effect on the environment.

“I was informed about cement production volume and demand in Indonesia. It turns out that production exceeds demand in Indonesia — so what on Earth do we need another plant here for?” he asked.

Meanwhile, UKS rector Yohanes Budi Widianarko backed the farmers’ resistance, saying the spirit was vital to keep alive the flame of motivation to keep on farming.

“Farmers across Java have lost their motivation to go into the fields. But here, the spirit to keep cultivating the fields is high, and this should be supported,” he said.

Kendeng is a karst region, home to aquifers that provide a good deal of water. Research on karst regions shows that good management is important to prevent the loss of water sources, not just for the local area but for the wider region too.

Last week, nine women cemented their feet inside boxes in front of the State Palace in Jakarta to protest against cement factories that they say will threaten their livelihoods and their sources of water.

They extracted themselves after Presidential Chief of Staff Teten Masduki ensured them he would arrange a meeting for them with President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo once the latter returned from Europe.

Previously, the protesters, backed by the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi), filed a lawsuit at the Semarang State Administrative Court, but the judges ruled that the case had been filed too late.

With the ruling, PT Semen Indonesia immediately conducted the groundbreaking of the factory. The company’s corporate secretary. Agung Wiharto, said that as of this month, the plant project was 90 percent complete; the company plans trial operations for October this year before production starts in January.