TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Kendeng protester's death triggers calls for activists, NGOs to step up resistance
Change Size
Showing solidarity: Activists from pro-democracy group Aliansi Gelora Demokrasi stage an art performance to show their solidarity with Kendeng farmers in front of the Central Sulawesi Legislative Council building in Palu on March 22.
(Antara/Basri Marzuki)
T
he death of Patmi, 48, a Kendeng farmer who fought against the construction of a cement factory belonging to state cement maker Semen Indonesia in Rembang, Central Java, has pushed activists and NGOs to increase their resistance against the project.
They have vowed to continue their protest until President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo instructed Central Java governor Ganjar Pranowo to revoke the government’s environmental permit for Semen Indonesia.
Agrarian Reform Consortium (KPA) secretary general Dewi Kartika said on Tuesday activists would continue to demand Jokowi take strict action against Ganjar. The governor violated the President’s instruction last August, which ordered Semen Indonesia to cease its activities until an environmental assessment (KLHS) for mining activities in Kendeng Mountain areas was completed.
(Read also: Farmer protester who buried feet in concrete block dies of heart attack)
The meeting between Presidential Chief of Staff Teten Masduki and four representatives of Kendeng farmers on Monday produced no result. He said the issuance of the permit was the authority of the Central Java administration. The farmers were also disappointed they could not meet Jokowi although the President was at the palace.
“[...] President Jokowi’s measures have contradicted his own policies. The President has promised to certify 9 million hectares of land for farmers, but he is unable to even respond to the demand of the Kendeng farmers,” Dewi said.
Patmi, one of the Kendeng farmers staging an eight-day protest in front of the State Palace, died of a heart attack on Tuesday. "The death of Bu Patmi is the moment for all of us to step up the struggle to preserve the environment in Central Java,” said Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH Jakarta) director Alghiffari Aqsa. (ebf)
