PALMOILMAGAZINE, LONDON – Representatives from Central Sulawesi Province, along with Friends of the Earth (FOE) in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom (UK), staged a protest at the headquarters of Astra International and Mandarin Oriental, both of which are owned by Jardine Matheson.
The protest aimed to demand the return of villagers’ plantations in 13 villages across South Sulawesi and West Sulawesi Province, which have been seized by four subsidiaries of Astra International: PT Mamuang, PT Lestari Tani Teladan, PT Agro Nusa Abadi, and PT Sawit Jaya Abadi 2.
According to an official statement released by Wahana Lingkungan Hidup (WALHI) in late April 2024, 2,485 families have been impacted by the conflict, covering a total area of approximately 5,856 hectares. Among these, 26% of the business rights of PT Lestari Tani Teladan and PT Mamuang need to be returned to the villagers. PT Agro Nusa Abadi is suspected of operating illegally in seven villages in the Regency of Morowali Utara, covering approximately 19,675 hectares, and villagers demand the return of 5.7% of the plantations that the company may have unlawfully cultivated. PT Sawit Jaya Abadi 2 has been compelled to return 8.8% of the areas it has cultivated, covering about 8,500 hectares.
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In addition to land grabbing, the Jardine Matheson subsidiaries have been accused of intimidation, violence, and criminal activities against the villagers. So far, 36 men have been threatened, 28 men have faced criminal punishment, and one individual’s life has been adversely affected due to trauma from the crime. Police officers have been identified as the main perpetrators of these crimes and intimidations, acting as the companies’ allies alongside army officers.
During the protest, the villagers’ representatives also met with some members of the UK Parliament to seek their support. Uli Arta Boru Siagian, Manager of WALHI’s Plantation and Forest Campaign, stated that cases involving subsidiaries of PT Astra Agro Lestari Tbk. (AALI) were protested in the UK to hold the government and parliament accountable for the negative practices carried out by AALI in Indonesia. Some international brands have decided to cease purchasing oil from AALI as evidence of the company’s detrimental impact on palm oil plantations.
The protest was about to get responsibility of the multi-national scale company for the villagers and environment where they operated, urging the government to get solution of the conflict, and delivering sanction for the companies that illegally operated and had something to do with deforestation.
Meanwhile, PT AALI re-emphasized that the company and its subsidiaries, such as, PT Mamuang, PT Lestari Tani Teladan, PT Agro Nusa Abadi, and PT Sawit Jaya Abadi 2 (PTSJA-2) never conducted crimes, had not authority and did crime or other threat to the villagers.
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“In Indonesia, everyone has the same rights before the law and every violence would be processed legally. If the sentence (from the court) was not delivering satisfaction, there would be appeal until a sentence is inkcraht (the sentence has no more appeal as the final one),” AALI noted as in the official statement on Tuesday (7/5/2024).
The company also clarified what WALHI protested PT Lestari Tani Teladan, PT Mamuang, and PT Agro Nusa Abadi. Everything has been clarified transparently by the third independent party, EcoNusantara.
In specific about PTSJA-2, AALI clarified that it did not cultivate 8.500 hectares because PTSJA-2 got izin penyelenggaraan transmigrasi (lPT) through the Decision of Minister of Villages, Disadvantaged Village Development and Transmigration Number 9 / 2019.
In the execution, PTSJA-2 developed plasma plantation with the terms and condition in IPT. The villagers that got the plasma program were selected and determined by the government.
“The decision about the names of the villagers that would get the plasma pogram was not the decision of AALI but the government. The areas (plantations) belong to the government. Any claim about it should be asked to the government,” AALI officially noted. (T2)
