T

he Orang Rimba in Terap, a forested plot of land that borders Sarolangun and Batanghari regencies, Jambi, claim it has since Saturday faced intimidation by a plantation company to leave the area.

The tribespeople claim the company sent thugs to intimidate and evict them. The only access road to their settlement was also closed and heavy equipment placed in the middle of the road, prompting them to complain to Governor Zumi Zola.

They went to the governor’s office on Monday to ask the provincial administration to resolve the conflict so that they could live in the forest peacefully.

Tumenggung Ngamal, an Orang Rimba tribal leader, said the forest was a peranoon (birth place), a pusaron (graveyard) and a place to get married for the tribe.

“Most importantly, the forest provides prey as the main source of sustenance for Orang Rimba,” Ngamal said Monday.

In 2010, the forest that was customarily under the authority of four tumenggung (tribal leaders), namely Nyenong, Ngamal, Menyurau and Ngirang, was converted into a rubber plantation.

Because of the change, he said, his people could not leave the forest to sell forest products, nor take sick family members to the nearest community health center for medical treatment. “To get to Jambi we have to go in and out of fields,” he said.

He added that the shelter that was built by the military in Terap that had functioned as a halfway house for health and education services for his group was no longer being resided in by Orang Rimba tribespeople. “We have been evicted from that house,” he said, expressing hope that the government would intervene and help the Orang Rimba live in the forest.

He also expressed hope that the plantation company would honor a 2015 agreement saying the Orang Rimba had rights over 114 hectares of land within the company’s concession area to compensate for destroying their land.

Zumi said he would look for solution to the conflict. He also said the intimidation allegedly committed by the company was not right. “We will gather all related parties to find a solution to the conflict,” he said.

The conflict emerged following the conversion of the forest into a rubber plantation in the early 2000s by the plantation company, which was awarded a concession for a production forest.

The company initially left untouched areas around the tribe’s pusaron. The tribe opposed the conversion because it made it difficult for them to forage for food and live off the forest.

The tribe demanded compensation in the form of 114 hectares of the company’s 7,000 ha concession area. A partnership scheme was also made to put an end to the conflict.

In 2015, following a series of deaths in the region, the Forestry and Environment Ministry and the Social Affairs Ministry emphasized the need for a living area and livelihood for Orang Rimba.

After a series of meetings at the residence of the Batanghari regent, an agreement was reached in March 2015, giving the Orang Rimba certainty about their right over the 114 ha of land within the company’s concession area.