Twelve provinces, including Jakarta and Banten, are still in deliberation, while 22 other provinces have signed their zoning plans and passed them into bylaws.

“There are two factors that will have detrimental effects [on coastal residents] in 2020: zoning plans and omnibus laws, which will cause investment to flood the region at the expense of people’s wellbeing,” People's Coalition for Fisheries Justice’s (Kiara) secretary-general Susan Herawati told The Jakarta Post during the group’s annual report release event on Tuesday.

In the report, Kiara slammed President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s maritime policies, which were deemed to have “deserted the people that live in coastal regions.”

“We recorded 41 designated reclamation areas in Indonesia in 2018. About 60 reclamation areas could lead to conflict [between residents and developers],” Susan said.

The group’s annual report highlighted coastal plans of several provinces that did not provide fisherfolk with sufficient land, which may put their livelihoods at risk.

In East Kalimantan, for example, coastal areas that are designated for fisherfolk amounted to 25.2 hectares for 137,553 families. Meanwhile, mining operations in the province cover 46,758 ha, according to Kiara’s report.

“Based on Constitutional Court Ruling No. 3/2010, coastal residents have four rights, which are the right to navigate through waters, develop coastal regions, access clean water and practice their customs and traditions. However, many zoning plans disregard them,” Susan said.

The report also criticized other regulations such as Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministerial Regulation No.8/2019 on licensing for foreign investors in small islands regions. Article 6 stipulates that foreign investment on small islands is prioritized for cultivation, tourism, fisheries industry, organic agriculture and farming. In Article 19, the regulation also states that the license was valid for 30 years and could be extended.

“If the maritime ministry issues a license to investors, the area becomes restricted for local fishermen,” Susan said.

She also highlighted Government Regulation No.32/2019 on maritime spatial planning, which puts the fisherfolk’s interests below infrastructure projects.

“The regulation stipulates that maritime spatial planning must follow the scale of priority. It also states that the first priority is national defense, the second is maritime safety, then strategic infrastructure, maritime conservation and finally the livelihood of small-time fishermen,” she said.

While the spatial planning regulation places fisherfolks’ livelihood as the fifth priority, private enterprise is placed below their position at the bottom of the list.

“When President Jokowi was elected with Vice President Jusuf Kalla, we thought there would be a breakthrough that would make us proud with his promise of making Indonesia a global maritime fulcrum. However, we haven’t seen any concrete steps toward that direction,” Susan added.

During the discussion, several activists who are fighting to preserve their land and livelihood told stories about facing corporations and government officials.

Ike Nurillah, the daughter of the murdered antimining activist Salim Kancil, said she had faced a situation similar to that experienced by her father before his death in September 2015.

Salim was beaten to death by a group of people in Selok Awar Awar village, Pasirian district, Lumajang, East Java, after he coorganized a protest against invasive sand mining practices in his village.

“I thought there would be no more violence and justice would prevail in my village following my father’s struggle in 2015. However, in August 2018 there was a gathering at the village hall that turned out to be a proposal from a shrimp farm corporation to buy our land,” she said.

Ike said the company paid locals Rp 15 million (US$1,099) to Rp 40 million for their land.

“My family vehemently rejected the offer. Several months later, there were fence poles on the ground,” she said.

Ike and her mother then turned to local leaders but she said that they were continuously ignored.

While they were trying to get clarity over the situation, she said several men went to her house and offered Rp 200 million for her family’s land, which she rejected.

“After we failed to get a response from the district head, we went to the regent’s office to meet with him. Alhamdullilah [Thank God] we managed to tell him about the issue and he promised us a visit,” she said.

When the regent visited Selok Awar Awar, Ike said the regent found that the company did not have a license to open a shrimp farm in the village and stopped its construction.

“The location is now registered as a conservation zone,” she said.

Ike said her success story in defending her family’s land showed that women could lead the fight against injustice.

“Us women are strong and can fight injustice,” she said. (mpr)

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