Problem of squatters contributing to deforestation
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JAKARTA - A half-hour motorcycle ride from a main road to peatland in Siak district, burnt bushes and tree trunks are common scenery, spreading across hundreds of hectares.
In one spot is a small pond whose existence reveals it was made by someone for use in controlling a fire as land is cleared by the slash-and-burn method to make way for a plantation.
A GPS map from environmental activist group Greenpeace shows that the areas - within Sumber Jaya village - are among the belts of protected natural forest covered by the two-year forest and peatland licence moratorium that was issued by former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in 2011, extended in 2013, and is due to expire tomorrow.
The visit to Sumber Jaya village shows that illegal occupation of land by squatters remains a big problem, and it is complicated by weak local governments and corruption.
The root of the problem in Sumber Jaya village dates back to three decades ago, when then president Suharto launched a programme called "transmigration". It sought to move people from crowded cities mostly in Java, and unproductive parts of the country to outlying provinces like Riau, which has the country's biggest area of peatland.
The programme was aimed at helping to control urbanisation and unemployment back then, but today it has apparently become a problem: a new source of deforestation.
In early 1980, about 700 young families, mostly from Java, were moved to Sumber Jaya village in Riau province, and each family was given 2ha of land to cultivate. Many opted to grow oil palm.
Today, their offspring are struggling to find land of their own and many have become squatters and cultivate irresponsibly.
Sadi, a 47-year-old father of four who is the sixth and youngest child of a transmigrant, does not know the land he is standing on is protected forest.
His parents moved from Medan, Indonesia's fourth-largest city, to Sumber Jaya village in 1980 as part of the transmigration programme and were among 2,500 families who were given land to cultivate in Siak district, says Sadi.
He describes his occupation as "serabutan", meaning a range of jobs from painting a house to planting oil palm, depending on what others ask and pay him to do.
"Finding a decent job out here is not easy. Many have left, but many others don't have a choice and are still here," Sadi tells The Straits Times.
A fellow resident, Tarpan, 53, who is originally from West Java, Indonesia's most populous province, voices similar frustrations. He says that his parents and their family participated in the transmigration programme but feel marginalised and forgotten now.
"Some time back, we were told the government would give us land, seeds and funds to help the families of transmigrants, but it never happened. Rogue Siak district government officials took the money," Tarpan tells The Straits Times.
Corruption has indeed complicated forest management in Indonesia, particularly ahead of elections, says Greenpeace's Teguh Surya. Indonesia's 269 districts and cities across the country go to the polls in December.
"The forest sector would be like a low-hanging fruit for the regents and other local government leaders who are seeking re-election and need campaign funding," Teguh says.
