InfoSAWIT, JAKARTA - Konsorsium Pembaruan Agraria (KPA) mentioned that agrarian conflicts in Indonesia escalated 12% in 2023, or about 241 conflicts increased from the previous year. In the end year report of 2023 that was released in South Jakarta, Monday (15/1), KPA identified that plantations were the main sources of conflicts within palm oil business as the main cause.
General Secretary of KPA, Dewi Kartika said the conflicts happened in many sectors but plantation still dominated in statistics. In 2023, 108 conflicts happened in plantation sectors, laid on about 124,545 hectares and delivered impacts for 37.553 families. This significantly increased from the previous year that reached 99 conflicts in plantation sectors.
She also mentioned palm oil business was the main factor to escalate agrarian conflicts. KPA also noted, 88 of 108 conflicts in plantation sectors related to palm oil industries totally. This contributed about 82% of total agrarian conflicts in the sectors. Dewi was sorry about palm oil policies that expanded area allocation in palm oil plantations without considering social and environmental consequences.
“Palm oil business policies should not ignore that there are duties and obligation which are difficult to publish policies about area allocation in palm oil plantations that get larger and larger every year but the policies get loosen,” Dewi said.
Besides becoming the cause of increasing agrarian conflicts, plantation companies in many regions in Indonesia have something to do with violence and human rights violation. In 2023, KPA noted, repressive case and violence in plantation operational delivered crime action for 252 men. 52 of them were tortured; 2 were shot, and three should come to an end from the tension in plantation sectors.
“Data from the cases reflected how agrarian conflicts keep happening in plantation industries particularly in palm oil business. There were victims of violence and the losses of life,” Dewi said, as InfoSAWIT quoted from Kontan.
The condition showed that behind the famous palm oi industries in Indonesia as the biggest producer in the world, there are serious consequences to the local and environment. It needs comprehensive and sustainable solution that should involve the governments, industries, the local to solve agrarian conflicts which get more complex.
To face these challenges, it is significant to get synergy among the sustainability of industries, the rights of people, and environment sustainability. It needs to consider every policy – to be published to balance environmental, social, and economical advantages, minimize agrarian conflicts but welfare the local people. (T2)
