Government’s
unilateral policy in Bima
Ulil Amri, A Researcher at The Research Center for
Regional Resources at Lipi Jakarta; A Lecturer In The Faculty Of Social and
Political Sciences at Muhammadiyah University in Kendari
Sumber : JAKARTA POST, 28 Desember 2011
On Saturday, hundreds of security officers,
police and troops attacked a crowd of protesters from the People’s Anti Mining
Front occupying Sape Port in Bima, West Nusa Tenggara.
The protestors initially aimed to reject the presence of two mining companies in the region and asked Bima Regent Ferry Zulkarnaen to revoke the company’s mining permit.
The protest was ended brutally by the officers and two protestors were killed and dozens injured.
We have witnessed protests against mining companies in various areas, including Pati and Kebumen, Central Java; Bombana, Southeast Sulawesi; Samarinda, East Kalimantan; and currently Lambu, West Nusa Tenggara.
The message from the protesters is clear: They do not want to see their land destroyed by the companies as they dispose waste that in turn harms residents’ lives and livelihood.
However, the government of Bima failed to get — or simply ignored — the message. Rather than conducting a dialogue with the protesters, it chose violence. Anthropological consideration s were absent.
According to Shore and Wright, the anthropology of policy seeks to understand cultural and philosophical foundations behind policy. Here, the object of analysis is policy. Whether or not a policy is useful and effective for all member of a community, town, state, country or nation largely depends on both foundations.
In other words, a useful policy must be sensitive to the culture and worldview of a community, town, state, country or nation.
From this perspective, we can raise a question: Is the government’s policy sensitive to the culture and worldview of Lambu community?
The culture of Lambu is built on complex systems of knowledge, kinship, livelihood, language, social organization and technology. They are complex because each system is intertwined with others. The government seems to have failed to take account of such complexity.
The residents of Lambu know that once a mining company operates in their region some negative impacts, such as environmental degradation and polluted water sources, may follow. Meanwhile, it is the only water source in the region.
Mining operations may also change their livelihoods dramatically. Although the world price for gold is promising, people of Lambu will soon lose their agricultural land, which has been inherited from their ancestors, while nothing will be left for future generations.
The Lambu people worry that the power of gold or money will change the social character of their communality, which will in turn affect their social organization as a whole.
In addition, the government has ignored people of Lambu’s dignity. Based on a report from the Indondonesian Environmental Forum (Wahli), the majority of people in Lambu were not involved during the first phase of policy making to decide whether or not their region should be opened to mining companies.
Rather than listening to the aspirations of Lambu’s people as a whole, the government unilaterally gave a mining permit to company. Only certain local elites were invited to make the agreement.
After witnessing the security officers’ brutal action, it seems that the people of Lambu are not going to weaken their resolve. The whole of Bima and Indonesia tend to back such action.
In order to prevent an increasing number of dead and injured victims in the future, it is imperative for the government to apply a moratorium as soon as possible for all mining companies .
At the same time, the government as well as the National Police must conduct an investigation, and ensure that no suspect will be overlooked by the investigation.
The police must be honest and announce if its officers acted in their capacity as mediators between protesters and the government of Bima and give them fair punishment.
Finally, and most importantly, the government must not be base its policy solely on economic and political preferences, but also on larger sociological or anthropological consideration, as this tragedy has taught us.
To be specific, the government must develop a policy that is sensitive to culture and worldviews. If not, we will always fail to design useful and effective policies for member of communities, towns, states, countries or nations in the future. ●
The protestors initially aimed to reject the presence of two mining companies in the region and asked Bima Regent Ferry Zulkarnaen to revoke the company’s mining permit.
The protest was ended brutally by the officers and two protestors were killed and dozens injured.
We have witnessed protests against mining companies in various areas, including Pati and Kebumen, Central Java; Bombana, Southeast Sulawesi; Samarinda, East Kalimantan; and currently Lambu, West Nusa Tenggara.
The message from the protesters is clear: They do not want to see their land destroyed by the companies as they dispose waste that in turn harms residents’ lives and livelihood.
However, the government of Bima failed to get — or simply ignored — the message. Rather than conducting a dialogue with the protesters, it chose violence. Anthropological consideration s were absent.
According to Shore and Wright, the anthropology of policy seeks to understand cultural and philosophical foundations behind policy. Here, the object of analysis is policy. Whether or not a policy is useful and effective for all member of a community, town, state, country or nation largely depends on both foundations.
In other words, a useful policy must be sensitive to the culture and worldview of a community, town, state, country or nation.
From this perspective, we can raise a question: Is the government’s policy sensitive to the culture and worldview of Lambu community?
The culture of Lambu is built on complex systems of knowledge, kinship, livelihood, language, social organization and technology. They are complex because each system is intertwined with others. The government seems to have failed to take account of such complexity.
The residents of Lambu know that once a mining company operates in their region some negative impacts, such as environmental degradation and polluted water sources, may follow. Meanwhile, it is the only water source in the region.
Mining operations may also change their livelihoods dramatically. Although the world price for gold is promising, people of Lambu will soon lose their agricultural land, which has been inherited from their ancestors, while nothing will be left for future generations.
The Lambu people worry that the power of gold or money will change the social character of their communality, which will in turn affect their social organization as a whole.
In addition, the government has ignored people of Lambu’s dignity. Based on a report from the Indondonesian Environmental Forum (Wahli), the majority of people in Lambu were not involved during the first phase of policy making to decide whether or not their region should be opened to mining companies.
Rather than listening to the aspirations of Lambu’s people as a whole, the government unilaterally gave a mining permit to company. Only certain local elites were invited to make the agreement.
After witnessing the security officers’ brutal action, it seems that the people of Lambu are not going to weaken their resolve. The whole of Bima and Indonesia tend to back such action.
In order to prevent an increasing number of dead and injured victims in the future, it is imperative for the government to apply a moratorium as soon as possible for all mining companies .
At the same time, the government as well as the National Police must conduct an investigation, and ensure that no suspect will be overlooked by the investigation.
The police must be honest and announce if its officers acted in their capacity as mediators between protesters and the government of Bima and give them fair punishment.
Finally, and most importantly, the government must not be base its policy solely on economic and political preferences, but also on larger sociological or anthropological consideration, as this tragedy has taught us.
To be specific, the government must develop a policy that is sensitive to culture and worldviews. If not, we will always fail to design useful and effective policies for member of communities, towns, states, countries or nations in the future. ●
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