Pekanbaru, Ekuatorial – Riau province still ranks first in the issue of natural resource conflicts. The first half of 2015, Sustainable Social Development Partnership (Scale Up) record 31 conflicts occurred in Riau forestry and plantation sector due to the chaotic permit.
Harry Oktavian, executive director of Scale Up in July 2014 said that the highest conflict was in the plantation sector. There are 20 conflicts during January to June. “Five in Indragiri Hulu, four in Rokan Hulu, three in Pelalawan, two in Rokan Hilir, two in Kampar, one in Kuansing, and one in Siak,” he said.
While in the forestry sector there are 11 conflicts. Four in Siak, two in Pelalawan, two in Meranti, two in Bengkalis, and one in Kuansing.
Since 2008, Scale Up has record the social and natural resources conflicts in Riau. The conflict continues to recur and involve more parties along with the increase of land area. During 2008, there were 96 conflicts in 200.586 hectares of land. In 2009, 67 conflict in 345.619 hectares of land. In 2010, 44 conflict in 342.571 hectares of land. In 2011, 34 conflict in 329.763 hectares of land.
Total conflicts had dropped in 2012, to 29 conflict in 79.100 hectares of land. However, next year rose to 62 conflict in 171.645 hectares of land. Then, in 2014 there were 60 conflicts in 464.083 hectares of land. These data are a compilation of public complaints and monitoring reports in the mass media, both print and online.
According to Harry, the chaotic permit brings negative impact and tend to ignore the rights of the community. “Various causes of conflict over natural resources including land grabbing by companies, overlapping concession areas, neglect of people’s right, and broken promises from the company to the public,” he explained.
In Riau province, two groups of large companies, Sinar Mas and APRIL control more than 2 million hectares of land. Under these conditions, he said, ruling out the right of people and often lead to conflict.
To parse the conflict, Scale Up recommends the government to establish regional level of dispute resolution institutions, both provincial and district level. Furthermore, there should be restrictions on large-scale permit and joint conflict resolution strategy. “In addition, there should be policies to ensure space for the indigenous or local people and developing program that is oriented in middle and lower economic people,” said Harry. Winahyu Dwi Utami