Cement and the Kendeng Mountains

Kendeng Is Not for Sale: The Struggle against Cement Industry in Indonesia - Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung Southeast Asia

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My parents asked me to look after the land for my children and grandkids. Since there are no stores that sell land, I will always obey their will.
Sarman, Farmer in Kendeng Mountains, Central Java

Climate Change and Women - Dr. Dewi Candraningrum - Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung Southeast Asia

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For the rest of our life, fight hard in saving Mother Earth. That's the only chance that we have.
Dr. Dewi Candraningrum - Indonesia

Unek-Unek Kendeng

Kendeng's Discontent

Namaku Ali, orang biasa memanggilku Nopet.  Lahir dan besar di kaki perbukitan Kendeng Utara, tepatnya di Kecamatan Kayen. Dulu ketika aku kecil, jalan di depan rumahku jarang sekali banjir. Tapi kini hampir setiap tahun banjir selalu terjadi. Tak hanya di jalan depan rumahku, tapi juga masuk ke dalam rumah. Terkadang air sampai setinggi pinggang orang dewasa. Menurutku ini karena hutan di Kendeng yang semakin gundul. Lalu bagaimana jika Kendeng makin rusak karena tambang? Aku tak bisa membayangkan. Maka aku berharap rencana pembangunan pabrik semen oleh Indocement dihentikan. Agar Kendeng tak semakin rusak. Agar aku dan keluargaku tak lagi kebanjiran setiap tahun.

My name is Ali, people usually call me Nopet. Born and raised at the foot of the North Kendeng Mountains, precisely in the District of Kayen. When I was little, the road in front of my house was rarely flooded. But now almost every year floods always occur. Not only in the street in front of my house, but also into the house. Sometimes the water reaches waist height of an adult. I think this is because the forests in Kendeng are increasingly bare. I can't imagine what if Kendeng is getting damaged because of the mine? So I hope that the plan to construct a cement factory by Indocement is stopped. So that Kendeng is not getting damaged. So that I and my family will no longer be flooded every year.

Namaku Giyem. Perempuan petani warga desa Larangan, Kecamatan Tambakromo, Kab. Pati. Beberapa tahun yang lalu direktur PT SMS bilang akan memindahkan kami ke luar Jawa karena desa kami akan digunakan untuk pabrik semen. Kami tidak mau karena ini tanah leluhur kami. Lagipula tanah ini tanah pemukiman dan tanah sawah produktif, tapi kenapa pabrik semen mau menjadikannya sebagai tapak pabrik? Kami menolak karena disinilah kami hidup dan bekerja. Uang bisa kami cari sendiri tapi tanah leluhur itu penting. Disini kami mendapat kemurahan dari Ibu Bumi berupa mata air dan tanah yang bisa kami tanami. Kalau pabrik semen? Tak ada yang bisa kami harapkan dari mereka. Saya berharap para pemegang saham pabrik semen menghentikan rencananya.

My name is Giyem. A woman farmer from the village of Larangan, Tambakromo District, Pati regency. A few years ago the director of PT. SMS said he would move us outside Java because our village would be used for a cement factory. We don't want to because this is our ancestral land. After all, this land is for our settlement and productive agriculture, but why would a cement factory want to make it as a factory site? We refuse because this is where we live and work. We can earn our own money but ancestral land is important. Here we get the mercy from Mother Earth in the form of springs and the land that we can plant. How about a cement factory? There is nothing we can expect from them. I hope the cement factory shareholders will stop their plan.

Namaku Bambang, warga desa Wukirsari, Kec Tambakromo. Saya warga yang akan terkena dampak pembangunan pabrik semen PT Indocement karena sawah Saya masuk dalam area yang akan ditambang. Kalau sawah Saya ditambang, lalu Saya mendapatkan pangan darimana? Selain itu, pabrik semen juga akan menyasar area hutan. Padahal sejak tahun 2000 Saya telah mengelola hutan dengan bertanam tanaman pangan melalui program Pengelolaan Hutan Bersama Masyarakat (PHBM). Kalau program ini dihentikan karena hutan akan diganti dengan tambang, lalu Saya mendapatkan tambahan penghasilan darimana? Selain itu, di Kendeng Utara ini juga banyak mata air yang akan hilang jika gunung kapur ini ditambang. Saya tak ingin ada krisis air disini. Lagipula ijin lingkungan PT. SMS telah kadaluarsa. Harusnya mereka tahu diri dan membatalkan rencananya. Batal demi hukum.

My name is Bambang, a villager from Wukirsari village, Tambakromo district. I am a citizen who will be affected by the construction of the PT Indocement's cement factory because my rice field is included in the area to be mined. If my fields are mined, where do I get food from? In addition, the cement factory will also target forest areas. Even though since 2000 I have been managing forests by growing food crops through the Community Forest Management Program (PHBM). If this program got stopped because the forest will be replaced with a cement mine, then where do I get extra income? In addition, in Northern Kendeng Mountains there are also many springs that will be lost if the karst mountain is mined. I don't want to see a water crisis here. Moreover, the environmental permit of PT. SMS text has been expired. They should know themselves and cancel their plans. It is null and void.