Indonesia’s oil palm industry is moving east. With large tracts of land increasingly difficult to find in Sumatra and Borneo, plantation companies are now focussing their attention on Indonesia’s eastern frontier: the small islands of the Maluku archipelago and especially the conflict-ridden land of West Papua.

In 2005 there were only five oil palm plantations operating in West Papua ((the two provinces of Papua and West Papua)). By the end of 2014 there were 21 operational plantations. This rapid expansion is set to continue with another 20 concessions at an advanced stage of the permit process, and many more companies that have been issued with an initial location permit. If all these plantations were developed, more than 2.6 million hectares of land would be used up, the vast majority of which is currently tropical forest.

Almost without exception, these plantations have caused conflict with the local indigenous communities who depend on the forest – lowland Papuans are mostly hunters and gatherers to some degree. The conflicts have centred around community’s refusal to hand over their land, demand for justice in the cases where they feel the land has been taken from them by deceit or intimidation, horizontal conflicts between neighbouring villages or clans, action by indigenous workers who feel they are exploited, or aggression by police or military working as security guards for the plantation companies.

The West Papua Oil Palm Atlas, published by awasMIFEE, Pusaka and six other organisations, is an attempt to provide a picture of this developing industry. Who are the companies involved? Where are they operating? Which areas will be the next hotspots? The aim is to be part of a process to push for more open and accessible information about resource exploitation industries in West Papua – currently local administrations and companies are often reluctant to share information about permits, meaning that communities often know nothing of plantation plans until a company shows up, trying to acquire their land.

Indonesian law does recognise communal land rights for indigenous customary communities, but in reality those communities often face considerable pressure to give up that land, and are rarely given more than US$30 per hectare in compensation. It is hoped that this publication can become a tool for indigenous peoples and social movements who wish to understand the oil palm industry and defend their forest against these land grabbers, as they themselves should be the ones to determine what kinds of development will benefit their communities.

For environmentalists and supporters of indigenous struggles around the world, we hope that this will also be a useful insight into the dynamics of the plantation industry and the threats it is causing in the third largest tropical forest in the world. Using the excuse of the conflict around the independence movement, the Indonesian government makes it very difficult for international observers to access West Papua, and this has probably also resulted in a lack of awareness internationally about the ecological threats. Yesterday (29th April) human rights groups throughout West Papua, Indonesia and in over 22 cities around the world held demonstrations for open access to Papua, which has long been a demand of many Papuan movements. Publishing this Oil Palm Atlas is also an attempt to break the isolation of Papua, by focussing attention on the issue of indigenous land rights, in a context where local communities which choose to oppose plantation companies often feel intimidated by state security forces which back up the companies.

Download the atlas here: [English] [Indonesian]

Read the Introduction

Unfortunately the information is not as complete as we would like it to be. Our aim was to provide a picture of every oil palm company with a permit to operate in Papua, together with a location map, information about who owns it, and what permits it has. However, that is not always so easy. We have been unable to obtain full lists from local government offices in most parts of West Papua, so we are left to fill in the gaps from local community reports, media and our own research. The biggest difficulty is often trying to get information from the local government, many refuse to co-operate, most never pick up the phone and so are hard to contact if resources don’t permit a personal visit.

If an oil palm company wants to apply for permits, it usually has to approach the Bupati, the elected leader of each Regency. If the Bupati agrees in principle, they will look for suitable land and issue a Location Permit. Later the company will need recommendations at the provincial level, and if the land is classified as state forest, then it will need a permit from the Forestry Minister to release the land from the state forest estate.

Several observations might shed some light on why this permit process is so untransparant: Curiously, it appears that more location permits are given out towards the end of an leadership term in the run-up to new elections, which can lead to the view that natural resources are being held hostage to politicians’ private interests. The company and government technical teams also frequently argue the case that the land is “secondary forest” so they won’t have problems with the moratorium on new permits in primary forest areas. There is also very little consideration of the local social context when the government considers whether to release land from the state forest estate.

However, for the indigenous forest communities living on the land which the companies are eyeing up, it is vital that they get full information about the company’s plans at the earliest possible stage. As they are the customary owners of the forest, and dependant on it, they have the right to make a free decision about what happens to the land. However, often the first time they hear about plans is when a company approaches them with a proposal to buy the land. By that stage, the company will have been given at least a location permit, without the community having sat down and discussed the plans. Companies then frequently use techniques of deception or intimidation to acquire that community’s land, using state security forces or middlemen who have family connections to the local communities. It is very easy for a company to create conflict within a community in this way, splitting them into pro- and contra-, and these conflicts can be used to the company’s advantage. Communities which are better informed before the situation gets complicated are in a much better position to decide how they want their forest to be used.

The Papua Oil Palm Atlas is also an attempt to provide information about the different companies controlling the oil palm industry in the land of Papua. These companies often use local names, or names which will give the impression of being pro-people and pro-environment, but in fact they are often controlled by members of the business elite, part of large corporate groups which work together with multinational companies. Typically these companies will also have businesses in other sectors such as logging, industrial tree plantations, mining and industrial-scale fishing, both in Papua and in other parts of Indonesia.

Some of the corporate groups which are involved in the oil palm business in the land of Papua are amongst Indonesia’s richest business people accordng to Forbes (2014) data: the Musim Mas group owned by Bachtiar Karim (personal wealth 2 billion US$), the Raja Garuda Mas group owned by Sukanto Tanoto ($2.11 billion), the Sinar Mas Group owned by Eka Tjipta Widjaja ($5.8 billion), Salim Group owned by Anthony Salim ($5.9 billion), the Rajawali Group owned by Peter Sonddakh ($2.3 billion). Most of these groups has more than one concession for an oil palm plantation, and some have other businesses, such as the Rajawali group which is also developing sugar-cane plantations in the Merauke area.

Other major companies involved in Papua are the Austindo Nusantara Jaya Group, owned by a wealthy businessman called George S. Tahija, who was well as oil palm is developing the sago palm processing industry in the Metamani area of South Sorong, and an electricity plant in Tembagapura, Mimika. The Kayu Lapis Indonesia Group has its roots in logging, and is the largest operator of timber concessions in Papua. The Medco Group is also active in industrial timber plantations, pulp and mining around Papua. A South Korean company, Korindo Group, is using land which it previously logged for its plywood business to plant oil palm. There are several other foreign companies operating in Papua: the Tadmax group from Malaysia and Pacific Interlink from Yemen which have concessions in Boven Digoel, the Lion Group from Malaysia, with a large plantation in Bintuni Bay, Noble Group, which has offices in Hong Kong has two operational plantations, and Carson Cumberbatch from Sri Lanka which is clearing land near Nabire for oil palm. In contrast with other parts of Indonesia, only one oil palm plantation is operated by the state – PTPN II in Arso. PTPN II’s other plantation in Prafi, Manokwari has recently been contracted out to a Chinese company, Yong Jing Investment.

Apart from these big national and transnational companies, our research has also shown that there are also several ‘mysterious’ companies who pioneer new investments, using their links with local government to obtain permits for plantations. These companies operate very discreetly and try to avoid having any kind of public profile. They don’t have websites, their offices in Jakarta bear no company names and reception staff invariably refuse to give out any information. Two such companies are the Menara Group which got permits for seven subsidiaries in Boven Digoel before selling most of them on (one of the Menara Group’s commissioners is a former Indonesian police chief), and PT Pusaka Agro Sejahtera Group which has managed to get permits in South Sorong, Maybrat, Mimika and Jayapura. Another example is also in Boven Digoel, where three plantation companies have listed their address at a law firm, but that law firm wheen visited refused to give out any information about any client which might want to start oil palm companies. Our visit was met with a similar response at the listed address of PT Mega Mustika Plantation and PT Cipta Papua Plantation, which both have plantation plans in Sorong. There are indications that this kind of company’s interest is speculative – once all the permits have been obtained, then the individual plantation company will be sold on to another company (one of the big national or transnational companies), that has greater access to capital and will actually operate the plantation. However this type of shady behind-closed-doors business practice makes it impossible for any dealings with the local indigenous community to follow principles of free prior informed consent.

Our data isn’t complete but we try to be honest about the holes in it. On the maps on the following pages, the plantations marked in darker green are where the borders are known with a reasonable degree of accuracy. Where we know the general location but not the exact boundary the plantation is marked in light green. Finally, where we do not have reliable location information at all, we just place a box with data about the company as near as possible to where we think the location might be. In the accompanying articles, as much s possible of the sources we have used has been referenced. We haven’t included information which we regard as unreliable, but we have to acknowledge that the data here is only as good as the sources which it is based on.

However, we do believe it is important to struggle for full and accessible information about plantations and other development plans, so it can become a tool of the wider struggle for communities to take control over their own future. If data is difficult to access, it is because it is deliberately being concealed by those with a vested interest in denying communities this right.

Hopefully this publication is one contribution to that struggle for open and accessible data about plantations in Papua, but our hope is that it is something that can be built on. Until the system changes, there is a need for more people to pro-actively go out and find information at the local level, and share it with others. Bringing necessary information that has been hidden into the public domain entails a collaborative effort of many people, as does ensuring this information reaches rural communities which are likely to be affected by development projects.
Ideally this will not be a static project, but it will be possible to produce future editions. The completeness of this however, is very much dependent on reliable information at the local level. Therefore we appeal to local activists, community members or those who have access to government data to recognise the importance of open and accessible information, and to publish yourself, or get in touch with us.

Download the full report here: [English] [Indonesian]

Father Hendrik explained that there are quite a few problems that occur in the oil palm plantation, but they are covered up by the company. The problems relate to, for example, workers’ rights, recruitment, clean water and habitable accommodation. Father Hendrik’s explanation was confirmed by the workers present in the meeting. They made clear that these problems had been ongoing for some time and were frequently ignored by the company.

Problems that often arise include recruiting company workers by using supervisors who find the workers, making all sorts of enticing promises. People who want to work for the company are asked to sign agreements to accept all company decisions concerning their wages and other working conditions.

There are also problems concerning housing and clean water. The company brings new workers to the site without taking their accommodation needs into consideration, meaning that 3x3m2 houses are being inhabited by two or even three families. People have to rely on rainwater for their everyday clean water needs because the nearby river is polluted by fertilizer which is sprayed by aeroplane. Then when wages are paid, money is docked without explanation, meaning that quarrels sometimes break out between workers and supervisors.

Source: SKP Jayapura: http://www.fransiskanpapua.net/2014/05/1325/kami-bukan-pembangkang.php