Residents fear Rempang’s industrialization will harm the environment. Farmers and fishers refuse to be uprooted from their land and livelihood.
Posted inSpecial report / Urban
“The sea is swallowing us whole”: How sinking land, rising sea level threaten Semarang laborers
Tidal floods continue to surround Semarang due to land subsidence, worsened by sea level rise.
Posted inMultimedia / Energy
Pollution and foreign debt: Indonesia’s unhealthy addiction to coal
This story was first published by China Dialogue on 14 April 2021. Over the years, married couple Edi Suriana and Masitah have grown accustomed to the great smokestacks that emit a constant plume of thick smog a few hundred metres from their home. The stacks belong to the Suralaya coal plant on the westernmost edge of the […]
Posted inSpecial report / Environment
Down and out in Bandung’s dollar city
In the 1960s, Indonesia’s Bandung experienced a textile boom that brought prosperity and jobs to the area. Today, locals complain of endemic pollution and health problems linked to unscrupulous factories dumping their waste in the city’s waterways.
Posted inSpecial report / Special report
Fear and loathing at Citarum’s pollution ground zero
Chemical pollution, siltation and agriculture waste have made West Java’s longest river one of the world’s dirtiest. Those working on its banks say efforts are being made to clean it up. But will they turn the tide?