PALMOILMAGAZINE, MERAUKE – During the visit of Vice President Ma’ruf Amin to Merauke, some members of the Majelis Rakyat Papua (MRP) of South Papua Province expressed their concerns. Katarina Mariana Yaas, a member of MRP South Papua, stated that the institution requested the vice president to evaluate palm oil plantation permits in the province.
“We also asked that every investor, both prospective and current, in South Papua should respect and adhere to the local indigenous laws,” she said to journalists at the MRP South Papua office on Thursday, June 6, 2024.
Katarina emphasized that every company operating in the province should comply with the Plantation Laws, which require the development of plasma plantations on 20% of the total areas they are operating. This evaluation is crucial to ensure that investments, particularly in palm oil plantations, adhere to regulations and policies.
“This evaluation is significant. If the investments in this province, especially in palm oil plantations, are not evaluated, how can we proceed with new agricultural projects and sugarcane plantations covering 2 million hectares?” Katarina said, as quoted by Palmoilmagazine.com from Cenderawasih Pos on Sunday, June 9, 2024.
She also highlighted that many companies fail to develop plasma plantations for the indigenous people, violating their rights and the rights of workers. “Many workers do not receive the benefits they are entitled to under the regulations. They remain on contract status and are never recruited as permanent employees. Companies exploit workers as needed without fulfilling their obligations,” Katarina stated.
She emphasized when investment comes to the province, it should positively deliver the impacts for the local people’s welfare. But the facts showed, the indigenous people are still poor, in hunger though there have been investments in their regions.
“Until now, the investments operate in their indigenous areas but the indigenous people are still poor, hungry, and even dead on their own land,” Katarina firmly said.
MRP South Papua hoped palm oil plantation permits, legal enforcement to indigenous legal obligation and the welfare of the indigenous people should get escalated and the investors respects the indigenous people’s rights. (T2)
