How the INDIGENOUS DAYAK People will survive this kind development?
Site Event Statement,
Introduction
My name is Fr Sani Lake. I am director of the JPIC Kalimantan based in Central Kalimantan province, INDONESIA. We, the JPIC Kalimantan, are working together with Indigenous Dayak communities in Central of Kalimantan, INDONESIA who are facing difficult and being discriminated by Indonesian government DEVELOPMENT project, especially palm oil project and mining.
The problem
Today, we are speaking on behalf of the indigenous Dayak people who we work for. We have experience, that in implementation project of extractive industry in Kalimantan, the Indigenous Dayak people have no right to decide for what their land is, forest and river, and even can not decide what them self will become in the future.
Key issue
There are 268 Dayak sub-tribes, and 6.9 million people In Kalimantan Island (2017). In Central Kalimantan with a total area of 15.3 million ha, there are 50 Dayak sub-tribes with a total of 742,729 inhabitants.
Before the development in the extractive industry, the indigenous Dayak lived safely and prospered on their own land. But that has changed. Government policies that are exploitative and favor large-scale capitalist investment is evidenced by the emergence of various policies, such as regulations on spatial totally not regulate customary land and communal land to local communities, most of the space allocation and structure developed in the policy provide "lots" to the palm oil industry companies, multinational mining and forestry.
So, Illegal logging, mining and Palm Oil industries have massively threatened people's lives. Landgrabbing and deforestation are the most frightening threats. The fact shows, 85% of the area of Central Kalimantan has been controlled by extractive industries.
Consequences
The Dayak community loses land. They cannot farm. Forests are running out. Forest and peatland fires occur every year by oil palm companies. Smoke attacks the health of residents throughout the region. Clean water is difficult to get. Pollution of rivers and lakes by mercury and pesticides is out of control. Many rivers become dry and lost. Wild animals enter the village attacking residents because they have no longer habitat. On the other hand, it was also acknowledged that many members of the land-owners were killed, intimidated and criminalized and expelled from their villages.
We see that this is one way to eliminate the right to life, future and cultural identity of Dayaks.
We acknowledge that the development in the extractive sector is an economic goal, more specifically for the benefit of small group businesses. Namely capitalists from both Indonesia and abroad. On the other hand, development in the extractive sector has destroyed nature, damaged the climate, threatened the future life of the Dayak Indigenous Peoples in Kalimantan.
All of this happened because Dayak Indigenous Peoples were never asked whether they agreed or not with the development model offered. They never got complete information about the adverse effects of all the development models. The community is only asked to accept permits for extractive industry businesses on their land.
The question is how the INDIGENOUS DAYAK People will survive this kind development?
Recommendations:
Therefore, we urge the Indonesian government to:
- Evaluate and stop all extractive industry policies in Kalimantan and Central Kalimantan
- So that the Indonesian government respects and implements the universal HR principles especially FPIC for the Dayak Indigenous people, Kalimantan!
Thank you!
Geneva, 19 -09-2018