JAKARTA - Member of Commission IV DPR RI Daniel Johan did not agree with the statement by the Chairman of the Nahdlatul Ulama Executive Board (PBNU) Ulil Abshar Abdalla who said that extreme mining rejection or excessive concern for environmental issues could have a negative impact on the community.
According to Daniel, nature must be maintained for the sustainability of the ecosystem. Moreover, many small communities depend on natural resources.
"The facts on the ground show that in the name of 'development' and 'national benefit', small communities that depend on natural resources are continuously forced to surrender. They are evicted, criminalized, and live in structural poverty," said Daniel Johan, Tuesday, June 17.
As a member of Commission IV of the Indonesian House of Representatives with an interest in maintaining people's living spaces such as forests, agricultural land, seas, and coastal areas, Daniel said that mining issues are not just a matter of permits or investment. However, mining is also often the starting point for the decline in the food ecosystem.
"When ground water is polluted by heavy metal waste, the rice fields become unproductive. When the sea is polluted, fishermen lose their catch. When the forest is evicted by heavy equipment, indigenous peoples lose their livelihood sources and cultural identity," explained Daniel.
"So far, mining exploration has not proven to be able to improve the welfare of the community inclusively compared to short-term and long-term damage. In fact, at most, this mine only enriches a few people exclusively," added the member of the Legislative Body (Baleg) of the DPR.
Daniel also highlighted Gus Ulil's opinion that the 'mining seems like a crime, mining is good, what is not good is bad mining'. According to Daniel, Gus Ulil's statement that calling mining exploration is not a crime is not a simple matter.
"Realitanya kerusakan yang dihasilkan oleh tambang di Indonesia sudah terlalu besar, terlalu dalam, dan terlalu sering dipertikan," tutur Legislator dari Dapil Kalimantan Barat I itu.
"If the licensing, supervision and law enforcement system was weak from the start, 'bad mining' would no longer be a deviation, but had become a pattern," added Daniel.
Daniel assessed that the Raja Ampat case should serve as a reminder that world-class conservation areas, which are home to the highest marine biodiversity on the planet, could be infiltrated by mining interests.
"We are grateful that President Prabowo Subianto finally revoked four mining permits there. But what about hundreds of other permits in water catchment areas, people's production forests, and coastal areas that became food buffers?," he said.
In the future, Daniel hopes that the mining exploration is carried out in accordance with the rules and applies the principle of sustainability or a green economy.
"Indonesia does not lack resources. What is lacking is the courage to say enough. It is enough to give permission, it is enough to sacrifice the people, and enough to make nature an object of unlimited exploitation without making the people prosperous in an inclusive and broad manner," he concluded.
As reported, PBNU Chairman Ulil Abshar Abdalla or commonly called Gus Ulil said that maintaining an environment that was too extreme also had a negative impact. Gus Ulil also said that exploring mining is a benefit. Gus Ulil's statement was heavily criticized by the public.
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In his argument, Gus Ulil also said that mining exploration does not always have a bad impact, there is still a positive side or benefit for the wider community. Ulil also considered that not allowing mining activities when natural resources were abundant was also unfair. He even called mining-repulsing groups such as Greenpeace and Walhi as the main environment.
Gus Ulil's statement was conveyed in a national television program. In the event he argued with the Greenpeace Indonesia Forest Campaigner, Iqbal Damanik regarding mining, especially in the Raja Ampat area, Papua.
Gus Ulil even mentioned that the attitude of some environmental activists who refuse total mining is similar to that of wahabisme. Ulil said mining exploration is a benefit and brings benefits.
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