Plantations, poverty and power - Critical Information Collective

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Indah Kiat faces a series of land claims and land conflicts. According to AMEC’s 2001 report, the
company does not control large parts of its concession area and has underestimated the extent of potential
land claims and conflicts. 282 Arara Abadi employs its own private security guards. A 2003 report by
Human Rights Watch documents violence carried out against villagers. 283 For example, when Arara
Abadi started to acquire land near the village of Mandiangin in the 1980s, it simply seized land from the
indigenous Sakai and Malay people without compensation. Armed police and military officials took part
in meetings between the company and villagers. One villager told Human Rights Watch, “We often heard
about people being arrested or just disappearing. So when they came here wearing their guns, we just kept
our mouths shut.” 284
In February 2001, 700 Arara Abadi employees supported by paramilitary and police forces attacked
villagers in Betung. Homes were destroyed and 58 villagers arrested. Five villagers were injured, two of
them seriously. 285 There are numerous similar examples. Villagers in Suluk Bongkal have been trying to
establish their right to 2,900 hectares of land since 1997. But even with written proof of their tenure rights
dating back to 1940, they have been unable to convince the authorities and APP of their land rights.
Villagers complain that every time they have come to an agreement with Arara Abadi, the company has
violated the agreement.
In each case, rather than attempting to resolve the conflicts, Indah Kiat denies allegations of violence.
“Every step in this chain is illegal”
In 2007, police in Sumatra clamped down on illegal logging, stopping the supply of illegal logs to pulp
mills. The Indonesia Pulp and Paper Association threatened that pulp production may be forced to
decrease by as much as 75 per cent as a result. 286 This figure gives some idea of how important illegal
logging is to the supply of raw material to pulp mills in Sumatra. As it was, the police clampdown was
lifted, and business as usual was allowed to resume.
After APP appropriated villagers’ land for plantations, villagers’ livelihoods were destroyed. One of the
few opportunities they have to earn income is through selling timber to the company. In some cases,
villagers log in areas that the company has set aside for conservation. While the company turns a blind
eye to the fact that the timber it is buying from villagers is illegally logged, this puts villagers in direct
conflict with conservation organisations.
The Swedish NGO, Swedwatch, describes the process by which illegal timber becomes legal. Villagers
282 “APP Pulp Mills & Sinar Mas Group Forest Companies Preliminary Sustainable Wood Supply Assessment
Executive Summary”, AMEC Simons Forest Industry Consulting with Asia Pacific Systems Engineering, 21 November
2001, page 4.
283 “Without Remedy: Human Rights Abuse and Indonesia’s Pulp and Paper Industry”, Human Rights Watch, Vol. 15,
No. 1 (C), January 2003. http://www.hrw.org/reports/2003/indon0103/
284 “Without Remedy: Human Rights Abuse and Indonesia’s Pulp and Paper Industry”, Human Rights Watch, Vol. 15,
No. 1 (C), January 2003. http://www.hrw.org/reports/2003/indon0103/Indon0103-04.htm
285 Mats Valentin and Kristina Bjurling (2004) “Swedish involvement in the Indonesian paper and pulp industry”,
SwedWatch, October 2004, page 14.
286 Chris Lang (2008) “APP and APRIL still cannot legally supply their pulp mills”, Pulp Inc., 10 April 2008.
http://pulpinc.wordpress.com/2008/04/10/app-and-april-still-cannot-legally-supply-their-pulp-mills/