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Sumatra

 

Transmigration: No end in sight

Down to Earth No. 39, November 1998

The government has produced a new document on transmigration which describes the 'achievements' of the past twenty five years and outlines the priorities for the future programme.

For almost fifty years, the transmigration programme has meant the violation of rights of indigenous communities whose lands are taken for resettlement sites.

Students join farmers to demand rights

Down to Earth No. 39, Nov 1998

People's action to reclaim their land is gathering pace.

The protests in the weeks immediately surrounding the fall of Suharto were largely mounted by urban-based students, workers and professional groups. Land reform - if mentioned – came at the end of lists of demands for the removal of the president, moves against corruption and reduced food prices.

Mining giants benefit from crisis

Down to Earth No. 39, November 1998

New mining investment has been in the doldrums since last year's Busang fraud and the slump in world metals prices. Japanese investors are pulling in their horns; many Indonesian companies face bankruptcy. In its desperation to attract and keep foreign investment in Indonesia, Habibie's government is giving international mining giants like Newmont and Rio Tinto an easy ride.

Mobil Oil and human rights abuse in Aceh

Down to Earth No. 39, November 1998

Mobil Oil Indonesia, the country's biggest producer of natural gas, has been linked to serious human rights violations in the war-torn north Sumatran region of Aceh.

Mobil Oil Indonesia is a joint venture between US-based oil giant Mobil and Indonesia's state-owned Pertamina.

Bob Hasan's fall from favour

Down to Earth No. 38, August 1998

Just four months ago Bob Hasan was one of Indonesia's main power-brokers as President Suharto's right-hand man. But now that his benefactor and partner-in-greed has been forced out, Indonesia's top timber baron is being called to account.

Since the fall of Suharto, Bob Hasan's fortunes have been on the decline.

EU-funded Leuser project slammed

Down to Earth No. 37 May 1998

European Union funding of the Gunung Leuser National Park and the Leuser Ecosystem is the target of criticism in an investigation by the UK-based NGO, the Rainforest Foundation, published in March 1998. The programme, to protect one of the largest tracts of rainforest in S. E. Asia, was one of three case studies in a report on the environmental and social impacts of European Commission funding in tropical areas.

East Kalimantan burns and starves

Down to Earth No. 37 May 1998

The forest fires are back. In East Kalimantan, the worst hit area so far, tens of thousands of hectares are burning out of control. The fires -- mostly deliberately set by big business -- and the continuing effects of the drought are bringing famine and dispossession to local communities whose once rich resources have been plundered and destroyed.