Wadas Residents Hope NU Leaders Intervene In Peaceful Conflict

PURWOREJO - A number of residents in Wadas Village, Purworejo Regency, Central Java, hope that Nahdlatul Ulama leaders come down to reconcile divided residents and lead to social conflict between the pros and cons of andesite mining.

A resident of Kali Gendol Hamlet, Wadas Village, Wagimin said that the socio-cultural life of the Wadas Village community was damaged by the pros and cons of the plan to mine andesite stone to be used as the foundation material for the Bener Dam.

Wadas Village, Bener District, Purworejo Regency is currently in the national spotlight. In the event of measuring land for andesite mining sites on Tuesday, February 8, the police arrested 64 people to prevent horizontal conflicts between the pros and cons. A day later they were released.

Due to the andesite mining plan, the people of Wadas Village are divided in two. One side agrees with andesite mining and the other side opposes. The attitude of the pros and cons turned out to be spreading further and leading to social conflict.

According to Wagimin, the pros and cons did not greet each other. Even religious, social and cultural events are carried out by each party individually.

"The situation is indeed like that, it is very concerning," he said as quoted by Antara, Tuesday, February 15.

The same thing was expressed by Syawaludin, a resident of Beran Hamlet, Wadas Village, who said that there was an incident where a motorcycle engine was filled with salt and sand. This is related to the cons and pros.

"The split started from 2016 until now, meaning it's been five years," he said.

The Coordinator of the Affected Community of Wadas Village (Mata Desa) Emha Saiful Mujab, who is familiarly called Gus Ipul, said that previously the Wadas residents were friendly and got along well.

According to Gus Ipul, 100 percent of Wadas residents are nahdliyin or Nahdlatul Ulama residents. Like the nahdliyin, they like friendship by participating in religious, social and cultural activities together.

"This is really dangerous and a solution must be found. There needs to be an idea to bring together the pros and cons so that the community life of the Wadas residents returns to normal as before," he said.

He highlighted the chaos that even occurred at the family level just because of different views.

"There was a mother who did not attend her child's celebration because of different views on andesite mining. The social damage was really severe in Wadas Village," he said.

A resident of Beran Hamlet, Wadas, Amat Marlan who is also a member of the NU Banser in Bener Sub-district, hopes that NU figures will come to Wadas Village to reconcile and unite the residents of Wadas Village who are 100 percent nahdliyin.

"Please, NU leaders come here as soon as possible. We want peace to return to Wadas Village. It's very uncomfortable to live as neighbors without greeting each other for years," he said.