by: Firdaus Cahyadi*
President Prabowo Subianto launched the Daya Anagata Nusantara (Danantara) Investment Management Agency (BPI) exactly one month ago. “There are approximately 20 strategic projects worth billions of dollars. Financing will be focused on the downstreaming of nickel, bauxite, copper, the construction of artificial intelligence data centres, oil refineries, petrochemical plants, food and protein production, aquaculture, and renewable energy,” Prabowo Subianto said at the launch of Danantara as written by several media in Indonesia.
Nickel downstreaming is one of Danantara’s funding focuses. The question is, does Prabowo Subianto understand the suffering of the people upstream and downstream of this critical mineral mining area? One of the upstream areas of the nickel downstream project is Wawonii Island. The small island is located in Kanowe Islands Regency, Southeast Sulawesi. Today, nickel mining activities threaten to destroy it.
Most people on the small island of Wawonii farm to meet their daily needs. Their crops include cloves, nutmeg, coconuts, and cashew nuts. From these crops, they can meet their daily needs and pay for their children’s education. Some of their children have earned diplomas and bachelor’s degrees from universities in Kendari Province and Jakarta.
Apart from gardening, they are also fishermen. For them, fresh fish is sold at the market and used as a nutritious side dish for their daily meals. Fish, expensive in restaurants, is easily available on Wawonii Island. The people of Wawonii eat fish almost every day. In short, the people of Wawonii are economically well-off.
The life of the people of Wawonii is harmonious not only economically but also socially. They help one another. Gotong royong, or working together, is not limited to speeches on the rostrum, as expressed by political officials in Jakarta, but has been practised in everyday life.
However, the harmonious and prosperous social life of the people of Wawonii did not last long. Since the arrival of nickel mining companies on the island, prosperity and harmony have become history. Nickel mining in Wawonii has not only physically damaged nature but also social life in Wawonii.
Many springs in Wawonii have been damaged by nickel mining operations. Before Nickel mining companies operated on the small island, residents could enjoy clean water for their daily activities, from drinking and bathing to washing. After the nickel mine operated in the area, they had difficulty using clean water. Some of them began digging wells, using rainwater, and having to walk long distances to find clean water for daily life.
Not only is clean water scarce in Wawonii, but clean air has also become a serious problem for residents on the small island after nickel mining companies began operating there. Dust generated from mining operations has not only polluted the air but also damaged the crops of local residents.
Dust from nickel mining operations damaged some of the plants in people’s gardens, decreasing their production. As a result, their income has dropped dramatically compared to before the mine operated on the island.
Some infrastructure created to facilitate mining operations has also damaged coastal areas. Certain valuable fish have become increasingly difficult to find. If they want to catch these fish, fishermen have to go further out to sea. This means that their production costs for one trip to sea will increase.
The economic well-being of Wawonii’s residents has declined due to the natural damage caused by nickel mining on the island. Nickel mining on small islands like Wawonii does not prosper its inhabitants but creates new poverty. In other words, government policies that allow mining to enter Wawonii Island are the leading cause of structural poverty for local residents.
Not only poverty but also the previously harmonious social relations of Wawonii residents have been disrupted. There was a polarisation between supporters and opponents of the Nickel mine. Residents who support the nickel mine no longer help and greet each other with residents who reject the mine. The social capital of gotong-royong that was previously inherent in the lives of Wawonii residents has been destroyed.
Policymakers at the local and national levels do not seem to take seriously this issue of destruction of nature, economy, and social relations. Instead of directing Danantara’s funding to environmentally friendly projects, Danantara plans to finance a fake solution project for the energy transition in the form of coal downstreaming.
Danantara’s funding plan for the energy transition false solution emerged during a limited meeting with the National Energy Hilirisation and Resilience Task Force at the Merdeka Palace in early March. As widely reported in the media, President Prabowo Subianto instructed restarting the coal gasification project into dimethyl ether (DME) through Danantara’s capital during the meeting. The coal gasification project is one way for the government to maintain its coal addiction.
Similar to nickel, coal downstreaming is also problematic from its upstream process (mining location). Upstream, coal causes natural and social damage to local communities.
Due to the climate crisis, the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from DME are very large. A study by environmental organisation Aksi Ekologi & Emansipasi Rakyat (AEER) revealed that the DME project produces GHG emissions greater than LPG (Liquefied Petroleum Gas). GHG emissions are generated downstream, in the process of extracting coal as raw material and downstream, in the DME production process.
AEER calculations reveal that a DME manufacturing project with a capacity of 1.4 million tonnes per year would require around 6 million tonnes of coal. The process will generate GHG emissions of 4.26 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent annually. In other words, the GHG emissions resulting from DME production are five times greater than the production of the same amount of LPG, which is 824,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent per year.
The natural and social damage in Indonesia will be even more massive if Danantara funds downstream projects, both nickel and coal. Due to the climate crisis, this will be an ecological disaster, not only for local communities but also internationally. The Indonesian and international public must not remain silent about Danantara’s funding plans in the nickel and coal downstream sectors. Without public resistance, Danantara will be the mastermind of all disasters.
*The author is the founder of Climate Justice Literacy Indonesia
The article expresses the author’s personal opinion and does not reflect the official stance of tanahair.net.
Banner phtoto: Image generated by OpenAI’s DALL·E via ChatGPT (2024)
