Home › Themes › Theme: Foreign investment ›

Kalimantan

 

 

Conflicts between community and British-owned plantation company in Kalimantan

Down to Earth No 55  November 2002


Tensions between the plantation company HSL and the indigenous community in the Manis Mata area of West Kalimantan have increased. In July, the British-owned company started to clear villagers' customary land at Terusan even though the community has repeatedly stated its outright opposition to oil palm.

Rio Tinto's Kelian mine blockaded

Down to Earth No 52, February 2002

East Kalimantan's Kelian gold mine, operated by Anglo-Australian mining multinational Rio Tinto, was forced to cut production in January when four former employees blockaded an access road to the site.

In Brief... DTE 51 - November 2001

Down to Earth No 51 November 2001

Stop Exxon Mobil! Free Kautsar!

The Aceh Community Democratic Resistance Front (FPDRA) is circulating a petition to free an Acehnese activist detained for speaking out against the US-based oil and gas multinational, Exxon Mobil. The petition also calls for a halt to Exxon's operations in Aceh.

Kautsar was arrested on July 11th by the local Aceh police force when he was on his way to a demonstration organised by a coalition of 13 organizations known as KARA (Aceh Community Action Coalition).

CDC projects criticised over impacts

Down to Earth No. 50, August 2001


Communities in Kalimantan are trying to secure fair compensation for lands and resources from two oil palm plantation companies funded by CDC, the British private investment agency. Although some moves towards negotiations have been made, CDC still fails to acknowledge that the projects' policies on land acquisition and community relations have led to social conflict, deforestation and, for some communities, increased poverty.

Communities and companies

Down to Earth No 50 August 2001

Violations of community rights are still continuing as companies and regional governments try to maximise income from the country's mineral resources. At the same time, mining companies are complaining about the "legal vacuum" hampering their operations in Indonesia.

Large-scale mining in Indonesia is in 'legal limbo', as the protesting companies see it, because their contracts, signed during the Suharto era, are being nibbled away by the demands of local governments newly empowered by regional autonomy.

Oil palm investments opposed

Down to Earth No. 49, May 2001


The government's plan to expand oil palm plantations could founder because it fails to address the underlying question of community rights to farmland and forests.

Oil palm remains a central plank of Indonesia's economic recovery strategy despite growing social unrest arising from disputes over plantation land.

Tangguh in West Papua

Down to Earth No. 48, February 2001


The recent increase in tension in West Papua, punctuated by the murder of political prisoners and the arrest of independence leaders, has not stopped the transnational companies continuing with plans to exploit the territory's natural resources.

The giant Tangguh gas fields in off the north western coast, contain an estimated 20 trillion cubic feet of gas. The British American merger BP/Amoco (BP) plans to start production in 2005 and is seeking sales contracts in China.