Prabowo's Surati Residents to Reject Gold Mine in Beutong Ateuh Aceh

NAGAN RAYA - The Beutong Ateuh community, together with the Pawang Uteun community, the APEL Green Aceh Foundation and a number of civil society organizations, wrote a letter to President Prabowo Subianto to convey their rejection of the gold mining plan in Beutong Ateuh Banggalang, Nagan Raya Regency, Aceh.

"The letter was sent as a form of deep concern over the threat of damage to tropical rainforests, the loss of water sources, the destruction of mountain landscapes, and the increased risk of ecological disasters if mining activities continue to be forced to be present in areas that have been the living space of the community," said Director of the APEL Green Aceh Foundation, Rahmat Syukur in a statement received by Antara in Nagan Raya, Aceh, Sunday.

He said, the letter sent to President Prabowo Subianto and a number of government institutions, was an urgent step for the state to protect the Beutong Ateuh area from the threat of exploitation of extractive industries, especially considering that the Beutong Ateuh area, Nagan Raya, has very important ecological value, not only for local communities, but also for the global environmental balance.

"If the gold mine is forced to enter Beutong Ateuh, the threats that arise are not only deforestation, but also water crises, conflicts over living space, the loss of people's livelihoods, and the increased risk of ecological disasters," said Syukur.

He added that the civil society network would continue to monitor the gold mining issue in Beutong Ateuh because the activity was considered that it should no longer appear after the Supreme Court Decision Number 91.K/TUN/LH/2020.

"The Supreme Court's decision is clear. This area should no longer be overshadowed by the threat of gold mines. But today, a number of permits have reappeared. This hurts the sense of justice of the Beutong Ateuh community, which was only affected by flash floods a few months ago," he said.

"When the community is recovering from a disaster, the presence of the mine actually presents a new threat. The state should protect the people, not present projects that have the potential to exacerbate the damage," he added.

Meanwhile, Ismail from the Pawang Uteun community, as a group of people who guard the customary forest in Beutong Ateuh, said that the existence of forests is not just a landscape, but part of the history and identity of the community.

"This forest is the legacy of our ancestors. If the forest is lost, not only the trees are lost, but also the history, culture, and the future of our grandchildren," he said.

In recent days, support for the rescue of the Beutong Ateuh forest has continued to flow from various national and international civil society networks through environmental campaigns and forest rescue petitions that have been supported by tens of thousands of people from various countries.

The public hopes that the President of the Republic of Indonesia, the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, and the Aceh Government will immediately take concrete steps by stopping all permits and plans for gold mining in the Beutong Ateuh area as well as strengthening protection of forests which are the source of life for local communities.

Teungku Diwa, a community leader from Beutong Ateuh Banggalang, Nagan Raya, Aceh, said that people have always lived depending on forests and rivers that are still well maintained.

"We don't need mines. Forests are our source of life. If the forest is damaged and the river is polluted, the community is the first victim," he said.

He reminded that the people of Beutong Ateuh, are currently still overshadowed by the trauma of flash floods that hit the area in November 2025. The disaster damaged residents' houses, destroyed people's gardens, and caused the river to overflow with mud from the upstream area.

According to him, the disaster is a real warning that damage to the landscape in the forest area will directly affect the safety of the community.

"Only five months ago, the community experienced flash floods. Houses were damaged, gardens were damaged, rivers overflowed. We are still trying to recover from the disaster, but now there is another gold mining permit. This really hurts the people of Beutong," he said.