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View all search resultsLake Toba Indigenous groups march to demand closure of pulp giant TPL
According to the Association for the Study and Development of Community Initiatives (KSPPM), 23 Indigenous communities across five districts surrounding Lake Toba are currently locked in disputes with TPL which is owned by Hong Kong-based investment firm Allied Hill.
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A group of Batak community members hold posters during a protest on Nov. 10 in front of the North Sumatra Governor’s office in Medan. They demanded that governor Bobby Nasution shut down PT Toba Pulp Lestari (TPL), accusing the company of grabbing indigenous land and causing ecological damage around Lake Toba. (Antara Foto/Yudi Manar)
U
nder the scorching midday sun, 66-year-old Sorbatua Siallagan beat his gondang drum in front of the North Sumatra governor’s office on Jl. Diponegoro, Medan, on Monday.
The revered Batak cultural maestro was not performing for a festival, his music was accompanying thousands of Indigenous people, students and church leaders who had gathered to demand the closure of pulp and paper giant PT Toba Pulp Lestari (TPL).
For decades, the company has been locked in violent land disputes with Batak indigenous communities around Lake Toba, including Sorbatua’s own people from the Ompu Umbak Siallagan tribe.
In April 2024, Sorbatua was sentenced to two years in prison and fined Rp 1 billion on charges of vandalism and land occupation in Huta Dolok Parmonangan, Simalungun regency, land he says belongs to his ancestors but is claimed by TPL under a government concession.
Sorbatua, is an 11th-generation descendant of King Ompu Umbak Siallagan, whose family has lived in the area since the 1700s. He was born in Dolok Parmonangan Village in Simalungun on the shore of lake Toba is the leader of the Ompu Umbak Siallagan community.
The Supreme Court later acquitted him, but the experience only deepened his resolve to demand the closure of TPL.
“I came here not as an individual, but to represent my community,” he told The Jakarta Post. “We want to see whether the government stands with the company or with the people.”
