PALMOILMAGAZINE, SOUTH BENGKULU — Monday morning, 24 November 2025, started like any other day in Pino Raya. Farmers stepped into their fields, tending the land passed down through generations. But the quiet routine ended abruptly when gunshots split the midday air, leaving five farmers bleeding on the ground.
For residents, the violence was not an isolated clash. It was the breaking point of a land conflict that has haunted the village since 2012—a dispute that, in their eyes, the state has repeatedly failed to resolve.
Around 10 a.m., farmers encountered a scene they had grown all too familiar with: a bulldozer owned by PT Agro Bengkulu Selatan (PT ABS) leveling their food crops. It was the third such incident that day—each tree flattened erasing not just income, but a piece of their identity.
According to WALHI, quoted by Palmoilmagazine.com on Tuesday (25 November 2025), tensions began rising around 10:45 a.m. Heated arguments followed. No one backed down. By midday, the standoff had reached its breaking point.
At 12:45 p.m., the situation exploded. A company security guard raised his firearm and shot a farmer named Buyung in the chest. Panic erupted. The gunman, identified by residents as Ricky, retreated while firing indiscriminately.
Bullets also hit four others: Linsurman’s knee, Edi Hermanto’s thigh, Santo’s underarm, and Suhardin’s calf.
In the middle of the plantation—their only source of livelihood—the fields echoed with screams.
Residents eventually overpowered the shooter, while the injured farmers were rushed to the hospital. For the people of Pino Raya, the incident marked a grim escalation in a conflict that has claimed more than crops—it has now drawn blood.
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A 13-Year Conflict Without Closure
The roots of the tragedy stretch back to 2012, when the South Bengkulu regency issued Decree No. 503/425 granting PT ABS a location permit over 2,950 hectares. The land borders quickly turned into a battleground marked by intimidation, criminalization, and now—gunfire.
Villagers say they have been left to fend for themselves. From the Ministry of Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning (ATR/BPN) to the local government, authorities are seen as absent in resolving a dispute that has dragged on for more than a decade.
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In response to the shooting, WALHI and 29 of its regional chapters issued a joint statement. Their message was firm: the state must not look away.
They urged Bengkulu Police to conduct a thorough investigation, including verifying the gunman’s firearm permit; called for protection for the victims and their families; pressed Kompolnas to oversee the inquiry; asked Komnas HAM, Komnas Perempuan, ORI, and LPSK to launch independent investigations and provide support; and pushed ATR/BPN to accelerate the land dispute resolution and consider revoking PT ABS’s permits.
Nearly every household in Pino Raya carries a story of land disputes, pressure, and uncertainty. But on that day, those stories converged into a tragedy that echoed far beyond the village.
Five farmers are now recovering from their wounds. Meanwhile, the community’s hope remains the same as it has since 2012: long-delayed justice that feels increasingly out of reach. (P2)
