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Land and food security

Taking the message to the top

Down to Earth Special Issue, October 1999

Through the Congress and subsequent events, indigenous peoples have presented their demands to government officials, political parties and the National Human Rights Commission. They have done this directly and through demonstrations, press statements and delegations. Such action was impossible in the Suharto years when open discussion of land rights was branded communist or subversive.

Poverty in the midst of plenty

Down to Earth Special Issue, October 1999

Two indigenous delegates describe the threats to their communities in South Sumatra

Pak Supriyadi was forced to move to Panglero, near the River Semanggis in Musi Rawas district when his village was taken by over by plantations.

INCO IN INDONESIA: the destruction and the dilemmas

Down to Earth No. 42, August 1999

A new DTE report prepared for Down to Earth by Roger Moody, Nostromo Research, May 1999

Dayaks charged in oil palm dispute

Down to Earth No. 42, August 1999

A long-running land dispute between oil palm plantation company PT London Sumatra and indigenous Dayak landowners has resulted in large-scale military and police repression in East Kalimantan.

Central Kalimantan mega-project re-invented?

Down to Earth No. 42 1999

The Central Kalimantan Mega-project, or 'PLG', as it is known in Indonesia, has been an unmitigated disaster. The ecology and biodiversity of a vast area has been devastated; indigenous communities have lost their resources and livelihoods; and the transmigrant families who were brought in to work on the project remain dependent on government assistance as their harvests fail repeatedly.

Sumatra pulp plant protestors fight on

Down to Earth No. 42 1999

Construction of the US$1 billion PT Tanjung Enim Lestari (PT TEL) paper pulp plant in Muara Enim, South Sumatra, is nearly complete. Hundreds of contract workers will be laid off soon. Most of the equipment, from Scandinavian, Canadian and German companies backed by export credit agreements from their governments, has been installed. Production is expected to start in October. The plant's capacity is 450,000 tonnes of pulp per year.

Forestry Act fiercely opposed

Down to Earth No. 42, August 1999