PALMOILMAGAZINE, JAYAPURA – On Thursday, 6th July 2023, The Awyu attorney presented 50 pieces of evidence in the environmental permit lawsuit trial against PT Indo Asiana Lestari (PT IAL) at the Administration Court in Jayapura.
The evidence included several crucial documents, such as the participative map of Marga Woro, a potential map highlighting rivers impacted by palm oil development conducted by Indo Asiana Lestari, and documents from Lembaga Masyarakat Adat District of Boven Digoel (Number 06/LMA-BD/XI/2018) dated 8th November 2018, which expressed the rejection of PT Indo Asiana Lestari’s palm oil plantation project. These documents were officially delivered to Benediktus Tambonop, the Regent of Boven Digoel, among others.
The documents prove that Papua Province misled to publish environment permit for PT IAL for not fulfilling the rights of indigenous people and climate crisis threat.
Also Read :The Papua Community Needs Palm Oil for Prosperity
“Every document we delivered showed that the permit published would have something to do with indigenous forests of The Awyu, would damage the environment, worse climate change, violate the rights of plaintiff as indigenous people,” one attorney of The Awyu, Tigor Gemdita Hutapea said.
In the contrary, Papua Province as the defendants and PT IAL as intervened defendant could not show their evidence. The both would take some time to deliver evidences in the next trial. The attorney of PT IAL once asked for the judges that their files should be accessed by the plaintiff for being confidential.
“Everything that is said as ‘confidential’ is the version of the defendant. The ‘confidential’ should be the same with Undang-Undang Keterbukaan Informasi Publik. Administrative Procedure Law also regulates that every evidence is open for public. We do hope that the judge would not accept it,” Hutapea said, as in the official statement to Palmoilmagazine.com.
In the trial, The Awyu supported the process. Many students from Aliansi Mahasiswa, Pemuda, dan Rakyat (Ampera) Papua did peaceful demonstration at the front of the Administrative Court. They did theatrical action as the solidarty to what The Awyu was struggling for.
The representative of The Awyu, Hendrikus ‘Franky’ Woro proposed lawsuit about environment and climate change to Administrative Court of Jayapura. It related to environment permit that Investment and One Stop Service Agency Papua Province published for PT IAL in Boven Digoel which is now as South Papua Province.
The publication of environment permit for PT IAL may break the regulations, such as, Government’s Regulation Number 22 / 2021 about Environment Analysis Formulation; Laws Number 32 / 2009 about Environment Protection and Management.
The publication of environment permit for palm oil plantation company is not the same with the promise of the government to solve climate change. In Enhanced Nationally Determined Contribution (ENDC), the government commits to reduce green-house gas emission that reaches up to 31,89 percent within its own efforts and 43,20 percent within international supports. Many official information told that the biggest sources of emission in Indonesia derived from land use change, function and deforestation. The environment permit of PT IAL could trigger deforestation in many dry primary forests that could lay about 26.326 hectares within potential carbon release, at least, 23 million tons of CO2. (T2)
