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span class="inline inline-left">Occupy DPR: Protesters erect a camp site in front of the gate of the House of Representatives building in Central Jakarta. JP/Jerry AdigunaOn a breezy, cloudy Tuesday afternoon, 45-year-old Yahya Hasan was trying to comfort his wife, Purwati, 47, who lay weak beside him under a makeshift tent erected in front of the main entrance of the House of Representatives’ building in Senayan, Central Jakarta.

With a string of black yarn stitching the edge of his lips, the father of five, who came from Lukit subdistrict in Padang Island, Meranti Islands Regency, Riau, was struggling to bear both the pain in his mouth and fear of the worsening health condition of his wife, who had caught a severe cough and a high fever over the past few days.

“Just now, my eldest son called from home saying that his two youngest brothers had fallen sick. Perhaps, because they are worried with our condition here,” Yahya told The Jakarta Post with low voice since he could not open his mouth widely when speaking.

Together with dozens of other local residents, Yahya and his wife came to Jakarta last month to stage a rally in front of the House building protesting the local administration’s decision to give timber company PT Riau Andalan Pulp and Paper (RAPP) a license to exploit peat land forests in their area.

The granting of the license has caused tensions as local people are worried that the land clearing will affect their livelihoods.

On the first few days of the protest, as many as 28 protesters, including Yahya and Purwati, the only woman in the group, took extreme action by sewing their lips shut to show their opposition to PT RAPP’s presence on their land.

Yahya, however, is currently the only person left with stitched lips after the other protesters found their health severely deteriorating due to limited nutrition intake and decided to end their action last week.

Having survived by drinking water and eating biscuits, Yahya, who used to make ends meet by growing rubber and oil palm trees back home, said he started his day at the camp by spending one or two hours for taking a bath and washing clothes in a mosque at the Forestry Ministry’s office complex located one kilometer west of their camp site.

“I also spend the time to charge my mobile phone there since our camp has no electricity,” he said, adding that he would spend the rest of the day to read newspapers, listening to discussions or joining rally to other government institutions.

Fellow protester Ahidan, 40, who is in charge of logistics, said his daily schedule also include collecting clean water in the early morning and preparing food for other protesters twice a day.

“A local NGO has lent me two portable gas stoves for cooking. So far it has helped us very much,” Ahidan said as he was preparing rice and scrambled egg for the group’s lunch.

RAPP, a subsidiary of Indonesian pulp and paper giant Asia Pacific Resources International Ltd. (APRIL), obtained a license from the Forestry Ministry to clear 23,914 hectares of peat land forest on the island.

Overall, the concession obtained by the company spans 41,205 hectares. It covers five regencies and municipalities, comprising the Meranti Islands, Kampar, Kuantan Sengingi, Pelalawan and Siak.

The Forestry Minister issued exploitation license No. 327/2009 dated June 12, 2009, to the company before the Meranti Islands regency separated from Bengkalis regency.

Both Yahya and Ahidan, however, have pledged they would end their rally only after the government revoke the license.

“I am ready even if I need to die here,” Yahya said.