Another day in the forests of Indonesia

“On Thursday, 18th December 2008, mobile police brigades in Riau, together with ordinary police officers and 500 paramilitaries stormed the settlement of Suluk Bongkal in order to evict the population. The background is the claim which the plantation company PT Arara Abadi is making on the land, and the company’s support by sectors of the government.” “The settlement of Suluk Bongkal, Beringin, in the district of Bengkali, Riau Province, Sumatra has been attacked by security forces. Two toddlers have been killed. 400 villagers have fled into the mountains and 58 people remain in the village. They are under extreme psychological pressure.” “State security forces, which are supposed to serve the population, have committed a crime against human rights with their attack on the population of Suluk Bongkal. There are strong indications that the violence was planned: Police and paramilitaries even used a special incendiary bomb in order to burn the village, they used fire arms and tear gas and a helicopter which appears to belong to PT Arara Abadi.” Since 1984 twenty six conflicts have been registered between local Indonesian populations and the ‘forestry’ corporation Arara Abadi. “The main cause is land rights conflicts. People are losing the right to their land, without receiving fair and timely compensation.” [1] Arara Abadi holds forestry and land concessions for around 3000 km2 in the Riau and Jambi provinces in Sumatra – an area covered by peatland forests that represent an enormous store of global carbon. This company feeds the paper mills of Asian Pulp and Paper (APP). Both companies are controlled by the Sinar Mas Group, one of Indonesia's largest conglomerates with a network of paper mills and land holdings that extends into China, India, Cambodia, Papua New Guinea. Sinar Mas Group is owned by Eka Tjipta Wijaya [2] the prominent Chinese entrepreneur. “according to data published in November 2007, its customers include Unilever, Proctor & Gamble, Henkel, Pizza Hut, McDonalds, Burger King, Danone, AAK and Cargill [3] . Other customers are the Swedish corporations of Cellmark, Ekman and Elof Hansson [4]. No doubt these companies are amongst many other corporations and their conglomerates around the world.

My bet is that, as long as we continue to consume the products of these corporations, the violence will continue.


[1]‘End the violence on pulp and paper plantations’ by Ade Fadli. 22nd December 2008.
http://www.eng.walhi.or.id/kampanye/hutan/konversi/pulp_arara/

[2] Forestry Giant Lobbying for Huge Plantation
By Luke Reynolds. The Cambodia Daily, Story of the Month, September 15 2004
http://www.camnet.com.kh/cambodia.daily/story_month/September-15-2004.htm

[3] Golden Agri-Resources, 2007. Company Presentation. November 2007 as quoted in Greenpeace Briefing ‘SINAR MAS: Indonesian Palm oil menace’. Published by Greenpeace Southeast Asia – Indonesia.

[4] www.swedwatch.org/swedwatch/content/download/277/1408/file/Summery.doc