The people of the Kendeng Mountains in the northern part of Central Java can now breathe a temporary sigh of relief following an order from President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo that further environmental impact analyses would be needed before cement factory operations and mining could start in the area.

Following his meeting with the Kendeng women, who are known in the media as the Kartini of Kendeng and grabbed headlines for planting their feet into cement pulp to protest the construction of cement factories in their area, Jokowi said that the analyses are to ensure that the construction of cement factories in the karst topographical region would not damage the environment.

The residents of Kendeng have been fighting for years to stop the development of the factories they believed would threaten their livelihoods and their sources of water. Some companies, including state-owned PT Semen Indonesia, are expected to open factories in the area soon. Construction of PT Semen’s factory is 95 percent complete.

On Tuesday, Jokowi Widodo ordered relevant ministries to start the study, known as a strategic environmental assessment (KLHS), an environmental assessment that regional administrations have to carry out before issuing permits for land or forest management, as stipulated in the 2009 law on environmental management and protection.

With Jokowi’s order, any future mining activities in the areas can only be conducted after the environmental study yields its final results, although construction of factories in the area can continue.

The President has tasked Presidential Chief of Staff Teten Masduki to lead the study that also involves a number of ministries, including the Environment and Forestry Ministry, and local administrations in the area.

“Probably the study will wrap up after one year,” said Teten, who accompanied Jokowi during the meeting and has previously engaged in a meeting with the Kendeng people.

“The result of the study will become a reference for us all, whether the local administrations, the central government, investors, or the locals,” Teten added.

Both Jokowi and the Kendeng farmers, according to Teten, engaged in a discussion in the Javanese language during the meeting.

Jokowi also urged Semen Indonesia to start conducting comprehensive dialogues with the Kendeng people and the local administrations.

Responding to Jokowi’s decision, representatives from the Mt. Kendeng Society Network (JMPPK) said that people from the area to be affected by the cement plants, people in Rembang, Pati and Grobogan, could now play a larger role deciding the fate of the mining activities in the karst region.

“The local residents are ready to engage in dialogue [with all relevant parties],” said one of the Kendeng farmers, Gunretno.

Gunretno said that the Kendeng people had never been consulted regarding the plan to open cement factories in the area.

Semen Indonesia corporate secretary Agung Wiharto said his firm would wait for official notification from the government before making any decision related to the Kendeng issue. The company plans to conduct trial operations in October this year before commercial production starts next year.

Other cement firms such as PT Sahabat Mulia Sakti, a subsidiary of the big cement company PT Indocement, PT Vanda Prima Listri and PT Imasco Tambang have announced plans to build cement plants in Pati, Grobogan and Blora.

In November 2015, Semarang State Administrative Court (PTUN) annulled the plans to construct a cement plant in Pati as they violated the regional regulation on spatial planning. However, other development plans are still being processed.

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