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A man stands in front of a singular tree in a cleared area
Jambi, Indonesia

In Indonesia, Orang Rimba Face Deadly Consequences of Dirty Energy

Tumenggung Ngamal returned to his hut with a red face. He sat for a moment while smoking a cigarette. Suddenly, the stocky man collapsed and frothy yellow liquid came out of his mouth. His wife and children panicked.

His son grabbed the motorbike key and rushed Ngamal to the Durian Luncuk Health Center in Jambi, Indonesia, but his condition was too severe. He was referred to the Hamba Regional General Hospital in Muara Bulian and, an hour after treatment, he died.

No one knows what illness caused Ngamal's death. "Before that he was healthy," said Tumenggung Minang. "He (Ngamal) had just come back from being invited by company people to see the coal mine." 

Minang does not know exactly who invited Ngamal.

Tumenggung Ngamal and his group live in the concession area of ​​PT Sawit Desa Makmur (SDM), which received a land reservation location permit in 1989, and a Cultivation Rights permit in 1997 for a 14,225-hectare oil palm plantation. In 1991 the company started planting oil palm, but it was never taken care of.

In 2017-2019, a coal mining company entered and started working on the PT SDM permit location. Based on Minerba One Map Indonesia, there are seven mining companies: PT Tambang Bukit Tambi, PT Bumi Makmur Sejati, PT Batu Hitam Sukses, PT Batu Hitam Jaya, PT Bumi Bara Makmur Mandiri, PT Kurnia Alam Investama and PT Alam Semesta Sukses Batu Bara.

PT Tambang Bukit Tambi and PT Bumi Makmur Sejati are owned by the same person. Based on Minerba One Data Indonesia, 51% of the shares of the two companies are controlled by PT Bukit Tambi. The rest are Hendro Heng (15.4%), Suparmin Heng (13.3%), Muchri (8.8%), Sukaimi Hendra Heng (6.6%) and Muhamad Ridho (5%). The directors of the two companies are also the same: Hengsen Sugiawan.

Meanwhile, 99% of the shares in PT Batu Hitam Sukses, PT Batu Hitam Jaya, PT Bumi Bara Makmur Mandiri, PT Kurnia Alam Investama and PT Alam Semesta Sukses Batu Bara are owned by Rizal Senangsyah. Wagiran holds 1% of the shares, and serves as director in the five mining companies.

Rizal Senangsyah is the brother of Andi Senangsyah, Director of PT SDM. In the Walhi Jambi report entitled Dirty Practices of Timber Plantations in Indonesia released in 2020, it was stated that before starting the palm oil business, the Senangsyah family was the sole agent for kerosene, gasoline and diesel. They also have a floating Public Fuel Filling Station in Payo Selincah, Jambi. Meanwhile, Santoso Senangsyah, brother of Andi and Rizal, is the owner and founder of Taman Nusa in Bali. The Senangsyah family is listed as a shareholder of PT Asiatic, PT Limbah Kayu Utama and PT Scona Persada in Jambi.

A truck kicks up dust on a dirt road as a motorcycle passes
Thick dust billows on the road used to transport coal in Koto Boyo, Batanghari / Credit: Teguh Suprayitno for Mongabay Indonesia.

In data obtained by Mongabay, PT Batu Hitam Sukses, PT Batu Hitam Jaya, PT Bumi Bara Makmur Mandiri and PT Alam Semesta Sukses Batu Bara are coal suppliers for PLN's coal-fired power plants. An employee of Bumi Bara Makmur Mandiri who was met by Mongabay admitted that their coal production was sent to Java.

The Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources said that there are 28 mining companies in Jambi that supply coal for PLN's coal-fired power plants (PLTU), with a quota of 3.9 million tons. Novaizal, head of mining at the Jambi Provincial ESDM Office, said that coal from Jambi is sent to Java, one of which is to supply the Suralaya PLTU.

"Some are also sent to Riau, Medan, to Semen Padang. Some are for fuel for steel and textile industry machines in Java," he said.

On average, coal in Jambi is low-calorie, between 2,800 and 3,400 which is suitable for PLTU fuel. "In West Tanjung Jabung, there are some that are up to 6,000 calories, but for a low-calorie mixture."

Coal potential in Jambi

Jambi Province has the largest coal reserves in Sumatra after South Sumatra. Based on the Hand Book of Energy & Economic Statistics of Indonesia 2021, Jambi has coal resources reaching 4.574 million tons and coal reserves of 1.658 million tons. Jambi's coal production is always in the top 10 nationally.

Black gold has become a new economic source for Jambi Province. In 2017, Jambi Province received a coal Revenue Sharing Fund of 105 billion rupiah, in 2018 it increased to 145 billion rupiah, in 2019 it increased to 193 billion rupiah, in 2020 it reached 213.3 billion rupiah and in 2021 it reached 271.3 billion rupiah. In 2022, Non-Tax State Revenue from coal mining in Jambi Province reached more than 505 billion rupiah.

In 2023, more than 18 million tons of coal in Jambi were extracted. This amount is far from the quota given by the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM) of 36.5 million tons. However, Jambi Province still received more than 300 billion rupiah in coal DBH. In total, Jambi Province received more than 1.73 trillion rupiah from coal DBH. Meanwhile, the value of coal exports in Jambi in 2023 reached 360.58 million US dollars, down 85.31 million US dollars compared to 2022. The Jambi Province Central Statistics Agency noted that coal mining contributed 6.36% to Jambi Province's gross regional domestic product in 2022 and 6.19% in 2023.

Orang Rimba become victims

On a hot afternoon in early November 2023, a truck loaded with dozens of tons of coal crossed a dusty dirt road. The road suddenly darkened. Tumenggung Ngelembo was riding a motorbike.

"This is how we die. People are forced to eat dust," he said, angry because dust had entered his mouth.

Ngelembo wanted to show us the Orang Rimba hamlet in Hajran Village, Batin XXIV District, Batanghari Regency, which has now disappeared, displaced by coal. We rode a motorbike for dozens of kilometers across the coal transportation road.

In the middle of the road he told me that two years ago, Ngeleman Sanggul died in an accident after being hit by a coal truck. Dugan, who was riding the motorbike, could not see the road because it was covered in dust. He was hit by the truck and Ngelembo fell under the undercarriage and was almost run over.

"Our losses due to coal are incalculable," said Ngamal. "Four people have died."

Since the coal mine started operating, many members of his group have suffered from diarrhea, itching, and shortness of breath. “At first it was stomachache, then death, there were many diseases since the coal company came.”

After more than an hour of riding a motorbike, we arrived at the location of the Orang Rimba village. Ngelembo pointed to a hill. He said that was where the rubber plantation, graves and place where their children were born used to be. Everything was destroyed. The tomb of Tumenggung Sukoberajo is now a coal mining waste storage pond.

As far as the eye can see, there is only an expanse of empty land being stirred up by excavators. Dozens of trucks are going back and forth transporting coal. The lucrative black gold business has wiped out the village and the source of livelihood of the Orang Rimba.

A man stands on the torn up banks of a river filled with silt and pollution in a forested area
The condition of the Mantan River after the coal mine / Credit: Teguh Suprayitno for Mongabay Indonesia.

Ngelembo then took me to see the Mantan River, which was polluted by coal mining activities. The river water flows into the Serengam River, which is a source of drinking water for many groups of jungle people.

About two years ago, two children from the Tumenggung Mena group died after complaining of stomach aches.

"How can this kind of water—blackish brown—not cause many diseases?" asked Ngelembo.

In 2019, five people from the Tumenggung Minang group also died from drinking water contaminated with coal waste. Two children and three adults.

"These jungle people never boil their water, they drink it straight away. That's why many have diarrhea and dysentery. Eventually they die. Coal dust is a source of disease," said Minang.

Not only are water sources lost due to polluted rivers, but fish and game have also disappeared.

"Even soft-shelled turtles don't want to go in—the river—because the water is black. Fish are also no longer katek."

Since the hunting area was turned into a coal mine, groups of jungle people in Batanghari have been forced to move from place to place to find a source of livelihood.

“If it's still a jungle, there will always be game animals. Now a week after moving, a week after moving, the game animals are no longer there. It's difficult to eat every day," said Minang.

He complained that as time went on, the life of the jungle people became more and more miserable. “It's nice if the government helps every day. If it's once a month, how do we eat?”

There are nine groups of jungle people living in the PT SDM concession: Minang, Nyenong, Ngelembo, Ngelambu, Girang, Menah, Jelitai, Meraman, Nguyup. The total is more than 1,000 people. Conflicts with the company knocked them out.

A view of palm trees and forested area with a blue sky and clouds in the background
PT SDM's palm oil plantation planted in 1991 looks neglected / Credit: Teguh Suprayitno for Mongabay Indonesia.

The beginning of the conflict

For more than three decades, the conflict between the Rimba people and the SDM company has never been resolved. It all started when the Senangsyah family started a palm oil plantation business.

Since it was planted in 1991, the SDM palm oil plantation has never been managed. Several groups of Rimba people came in and worked on the SDM land. They planted rubber, oil palm and many fruit plants. They also lived there, although they did not settle in one place.

"We saw that the plantation was not being managed. The customary law of the Rimba people, if it is not managed for three years, it can be worked by someone else," said Ngelembo.

But the company did not remain silent. Several times the Rimba people's plantation was evicted, triggering conflict. The peak was in 2006. The Rimba people group then reported the company to the Batanghari Regency Government. They demanded that the SDM permit be revoked. On March 27, 2006, the Regent of Batanghari, Syahirsah wrote to the National Land Agency (BPN) of Jambi Province to process the revocation of the SDM Cultivation Rights permit. However, the results of a meeting at the BPN in April 2006 decided that the HGU could not be revoked because it was still in the development stage.

On April 8, 2011, Abdul Fattah, the Regent of Batanghari, wrote to SDM to stop clearing the Orang Rimba plantations, because their land was proven to be abandoned.

Six years later, a coal mining company owned by Rizal Senangsyah entered and worked on the SDM concession. All the Orang Rimba plantations and sacred places were destroyed without a trace.

The opening of the coal mine made the conflict between the Orang Rimba and SDM even more acute. In 2020, Fachrori Umar, the governor of Jambi, wrote to the head of the Jambi Province National Land Agency Regional Office to evaluate the SDM permit. The letter dated September 17, 2020 stated that the SDM concession was proven to be abandoned and not in accordance with its designation. The governor requested that the concession area be reduced to that controlled by the company.

This letter is a follow-up to the letter from the Regent of Batanghari, Syahirsah, which was sent on July 30, 2020, as well as letters from the Village Heads of Hajran, Sungai Lingkar, Mata Gual, Sungai Lingkar, Koto Boyo, Padang Kelapo and Sungai Ruan urging that the SDM permit to be revised.

But the letter from the governor of Jambi was ignored. The Senangsyah family company instead opened new land in the Orang Rimba area that had not previously been worked by the company.

Ngelembo admitted that he could do nothing. "We have met the regent, we have been everywhere, but there has been no government decision. Now we are moving into coal," he said.

"We are satisfied with our struggle," added Jelitai.

The prolonged conflict has marginalized the Orang Rimba group. The Jelitai group moved to the Sungai Geger area, but are in conflict with PT Adimulia Palmo Lestari—a palm oil plantation. Some live in settlements built by the government in the Padang Kelapo area, but many are uncomfortable.

"Where else should we move to now? Our territory is gone," said Jelitai.

"That's the same as telling us to die," replied Ngelembo.

A stack of cut logs in a forest
Trees felled by PT SDM in a disputed location with the Orang Rimba / Credit: Teguh Suprayitno for Mongabay Indonesia.

Conflict heats up

On Sunday, September 17, 2023, dozens of Orang Rimba from seven groups blocked PT SDM's heavy equipment across the Pawal River. They were angry. The Senangsyah family company violated the agreement.

Dozens of hectares of rubber plantations, durian trees, Sialang trees and Orang Rimba fruit gardens were destroyed without compensation. Graves and land where Orang Rimba gave birth were also cleared.

Ngelembo showed a letter of agreement between Andi Senangsyah, SDM Director, and Tumenggung Berambai—Ngelembo’s grandfather—on October 9, 1991. In the letter, the two accepted to enter into an agreement to mark the boundaries of the SDM oil palm plantation development plan in Mersam District, starting from Sungai Pawal continuing south to Sungai Serengam downstream. SDM also agreed to provide compensation of 15 million rupiah for the gardens and land that had already been cultivated by the company.

Ngelembo said that around 2,000 hectares of SDM land bordered the territory of the jungle people. But now the jungle people’s roaming area is also being cultivated by the company.

“That’s the jungle people’s village. That’s where jungle women give birth, there are even more graves. Now it’s planted with oil palm,” said Jelitai.

“We just want to defend our rights, our customary land,” said Atik, Jelatai’s daughter.

She said that she had asked the company to show her the boundaries of its concession permit, but was refused.

“Until now, we don’t know the boundaries of our territory. We only hold on to our ancestors’ agreement with PT SDM, in 1991.”

A man stands overlooking a mining site with dust and trucks
A youth looks at his family's garden and burial ground, which is now a coal mining site / Credit: Teguh Suprayitno for Mongabay Indonesia.

Reported to the police

The case of the ambush carried out by the Orang Rimba group had long consequences. The company reported the case to the Batanghari Police.

In October 2023, Tumenggung Jelitai received a second summons from the police. The letter stated that the Batanghari police were investigating a case of alleged criminal acts of land occupation and embezzlement of immovable property belonging to the company.

"So we were reported to the police because we forbade the eviction of our family's graves," said Jelitai angrily.

In total, 12 people received police summonses: Tumenggung Ngelembo, Tumenggung Mena, nine people from the Tumenggung Jelitai group, and Untung—the person who liaises between the outside community and the jungle people.

The summons frightened the Ngelembo group. They went into the forest to hide, afraid of being caught by the police.

On January 22, 2024, Mongabay met with AIPDA Ramson, an investigator from Unit I General Crimes, Criminal Investigation Unit, Batanghari Police. He said that the SDM case with the jungle people was still under investigation.

"Because several witnesses summoned by the police have not yet arrived. We will summon them again later," said Ramson.

The police suspect that the land claimed by the jungle people has been taken over by a third party. Because when they were in the field, they found buildings and heavy equipment.

"Maybe the anak dalam tribe—the government's general term for the jungle people, batin 9 and the Talang Mamak tribe—sold it to someone else, because they thought it was their land. So we are being very careful."

Ramson said that the Batanghari Police could not yet confirm that the disputed land in Maro Sebo Ulu was the SDM permit area, because the company had not shown a map of their concession permit.

Agusrizal, head of the Jambi Province Plantation Service, suspected that SDM deliberately did not take care of its oil palm plantation because they knew there was coal there.

"Maybe they deliberately planted oil palm while waiting for the coal to be ready for production, the important thing is that their permit is not revoked or transferred to another investor. The Batanghari Regency Government should take firm action, because that is their authority."

Batanghari Regent, Fadhil Arief said that there is a government regulation that allows mining business permits to be in plantation permits. 

"As long as there is a permit from SDM, it is allowed. It depends on how they negotiate."

Fadhil also admitted that several leaders of the jungle people group had told him that the disputed land with SDM was the right of the jungle people.

"Mediation continues to be carried out by the Batanghari Regency integrated team so that they cannot claim each other. Hopefully the mediation can be successful," he said.

Mongabay visited the SDM office on Jl. Orang Kayo Hitam No. 18, Sulanjana, Jambi Timur District, Jambi City on December 28, 2023 and February 15, 2024, to meet Lukman, Director of PT SDM, but never met him. Mongabay left a telephone number twice so that he could be contacted, but there has been no message from SDM until now.

Trucks load coal in a mining site
Coal extraction activities on land included in the palm oil company concession in Batanghari / Photo: Teguh Suprayitno for Mongabay Indonesia.

Disaster comes

Zahara, the wife of Tumenggung Minang, was lying under a tarpaulin covered with cloth. She had been suffering from a fever for several days.

Minang no longer knew how to treat his wife, even though the jungle people were known as skilled herbalists. The forest that used to be a source of medicine had been cleared for the company's palm oil plantation. And now it had become a coal mine.

Minang admitted that since their graves and ancestral land were cleared for coal mining, many disasters have befallen the jungle people. Many children and women have died.

"The disaster was because many graves were cleared. Our ancestors have ordered that graves should not be cleared."

The custom of the jungle people is that every grave that is evicted must be replaced with 1,000 pieces of cloth. The same goes for the land where one was born. But according to Minang, every custom that is violated will have consequences.

"Even though compensation has been given, the disaster will continue to come. That's why the jungle people prohibit companies from entering, because it will cause damage. But the government continues to give permission."

Logs lay over a polluted creek and torn up land
The Pawal River, the natural boundary between the PT SDM area and the Orang Rimba area according to the agreement signed in 1991 / Credit: Teguh Suprayitno for Mongabay Indonesia.

Ethnocide

Robert Aritonang, Program Manager of KKI Warsi—a non-governmental organization that focuses on indigenous people and forest issues in Jambi—said that the core problem faced by the jungle people is resource rights. The jungle people who have lived there first feel that the human resource concession is part of their customary territory.

"Local people who have lived there for a long time are being pushed aside. This is a matter of rights, so they will continue to question it."

Robert explained that the principle of using the jungle people's territorial space is different from that of outsiders. The jungle people who have a hunting and gathering culture need a living space where all the resources in the area are provided by nature.

"If they have been evicted by coal mines, palm oil, they will definitely feel the loss of what they have as rights. In principle, human rights, they have much more rights to those resources, even though the company has permission from the government.”

For the jungle people, customary land is very complex as it includes sacred graves and places where they interact with the gods. But that is difficult for outsiders to understand.

“Their customary property is not sensitive to outsiders, so outsiders are arbitrary. Try occupying the graves of people outside, that's the risk of their lives. Because this is sensitive,” said Robert.

According to him, the conflicts that the jungle people will face will increase due to the loss of resources. Those who live outside the forest are more vulnerable to becoming victims of human rights violations.

“We have often seen now, how the jungle people kill and are killed. In the future, it will happen more often.”

Robert, who is also an anthropologist, assesses that what is happening to the jungle people today is ethnocide. Slowly the forest and the jungle people's customs are being destroyed. They are losing their identity.

“Even though the people are not killed, their culture is being destroyed. That is very crucial and very sad.”

That afternoon I saw Ngelembo looking confused about how he and his group should survive. The remaining forest has been cleared for palm oil plantations, while their gardens have been destroyed by coal mining.

"So now we are at a standstill. It's like the government is telling us to die."


This story was produced with support from Internews' Earth Journalism Network. It was first published in Bahasa Indonesia in Mongabay Indonesia on March 15, 2024. It has been translated and lightly edited for length and clarity.

Banner: The Orang Rimba forest after being cleared by a palm oil company / Credit: Teguh Suprayitno for Mongabay Indonesia.