ACEH TENGGARA - Residents of Bener Berpapah Village, Ketambe District, South Aceh Regency, Aceh, are now earning gold to increase their income after their livelihoods from the garden were damaged by flash floods and landslides in late November 2025.
One of the residents who took part in mining, Rukiah (45), said that the gold from the pendulum was collected first before being sold to the tauke who came to his village or to the morning market in Kutacane, the capital of the regency.
"It's just a little. Yesterday it was one gram one milli (milligram). There was Rp3.1 million in the money. Sell to the tax (market) in the morning," said Rukiah when met by ANTARA in Bener Berpapah Village, Tuesday, February 3.
The mining activity on the riverbank has only started in the last month after a hydrometeorological disaster hit the village. Previously, there were no gold mines around the village.
"After this flood, we are mining gold here. At that time there was nothing here. After this flood, the house was gone, there was (gold). Sometimes God gives you sustenance, right?" he said.
He told that the gold content in the river was first known by his younger brother. After that, Rukiah's family started to dig, which was then followed by other residents.
The pendulum was made because post-disaster livelihoods were disrupted. Rukiah, who is a cocoa farmer, felt helped by the results of the harvest because her garden no longer bore fruit after the disaster two months ago.
"It helps a lot. It can be a school child. Various, lah, from here. Paid for water, lights; for daily shopping," he said.
The pendulum began at 08.00 in the morning and continued until the afternoon after a break and prayer in the afternoon. Before the gold was washed on the tray, sand was first taken from the river and filtered using a homemade tool.
"It's taken from there, the sand, wash it in the tray. Only then clean it, take it home," he said.
According to Rukiah, this pendulum was temporarily prohibited by the security because it was feared to damage nature. However, he said that the activities carried out with the residents of Bener Berpapah Village were not as feared.
"Why is it damaged? We don't bring it, right. The land is here, all of it, the sand. We don't bring anything, nothing. We also work, find food for children, for school children, everything is from here," he said.
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