(PT Cenderawasih Jaya Mandiri, PT Karya Bumi Papua)

Last Updated: 30/07/13

Company Description: Rajawali is one company in the business conglomerate owned by Peter Sondakh. He built his empire on cigarettes, media and hotels amongst other areas. Over the last two years the Rajawali group has sold several of its assets, including shares in Semen Gresik cement company, cigarette manufacturer Bentoel and telecommunications company Excelcomindo. It has used the capital to invest further in mining for coal and minerals, as well as plantations businesses, including those in Papua.

Owned by: Peter Sondakh is originally from North Sulawesi and is one of Indonesia’s richest men, placed at number eight in Forbes list in 2011.

Plans in Merauke: Through its two subsidiaries PT Karya Bumi Papua and PT Cendrawasih Jaya Mandiri, Rajawali group is intending to plant sugar cane in Merauke. The two companies are very much in the forefront of MIFEE, and seem to have obtained most of the necessary permits to operate at the local and national level, on an area of plantation stretching over 37,795 hectares in Kurik and Malind districts.1

Stories from the ground: Before clearing land, Rajawali negotiated access with several villages. While villagers in kampung Domande received a pitiful amount for their land (6 billion Rupiah), villagers from kampung Onggari were surprised to find the company’s surveying stakes in the forest despite the fact they had not been consulted. Villagers in Kampung Kaliki reported feeling pressured by local officials into allowing Rajawali access to their land. (see more detailed accounts in Reports from Villages section).

Rajawali has built roads and begun to clear the land around Kampung Domande. This has caused conflicts to erupt in November 2012 and June 2013, the community upset with Rajawali’s failure to pay for the wood they take and other broken promises. Neighbouring villages Kaiburze and Onggari have refused to sell their land, although villagers of Kampung Onggari have accused Rajawali of illegally logging on their land.2

Other conflicts around West Papua and Indonesia: A subsidiary of Rajawali, PT Tandan Sawita Papua, is in the process of launching an oil palm plantation in Arso Timur, near to Jayapura in the north of West Papua. News from there indicates that the situation is not so different from what is happening in Merauke. The company has been reported to have been buying the right to use customary land for as little as Rp 384,000 [$43] per hectare.3

Rajawali is also investing in some of the most controversial mining projects in Indonesia. It has recently bought a majority stake in a London Stock Exchange-listed company, Archipelago Resources, which is intending to open the Toka Tindung gold mine in North Sulawesi, which is resisted by local people.4 Most recently, Rajawali bought a 20% stake in Indo Mines, the Australian company that wants to mine a 20km stretch of coast near Yogyakarta for iron sands, which local people have also been fighting for several years.5

International links: Aside from its investments in foreign mining companies, Rajawali manages hotels outside of Indonesia. This includes the Surfer’s Paradise Marriott on Gold Coast Australia, and The Sheraton Imperial Kuala Lumpur and Langkawi Westin in Malaysia.

Address: Jl Mega Kuningan Lot 5.1 Menara Rajawali Lt 27-28, Kuningan Timur, Setia Budi, Jakarta, 12950, Indonesia

Tel : 62 21 576 0808

1. http://www.bisnis-kti.com/index.php/2011/03/rajawali-tunggu-izin-prinsip-pabrik-gula-rp3-triliun-di-merauke/

2. https://awasmifee.potager.org/?p=297 , https://awasmifee.potager.org/?p=334 , https://awasmifee.potager.org/?p=346 , https://awasmifee.potager.org/?p=349

3. http://bintangpapua.com/headline/9782-3-m2-tanah-adat-senilai-sepotong-pisang-goreng . A short film by Engage Media shows the situation in Arso, not so different from what is happening in Merauke: http://www.engagemedia.org/Members/papuanvoicesjayapura/videos/kasmira_en/view

4. http://www.banktrack.org/show/dodgydeals/toka_tindung_gold_mine

5. http://www.theindonesiatoday.com/breaking-news/resources-photo/17810-peter-sondakh-joins-jogjakarta-iron-project.html

http://hidupbiasa.blogspot.com/2013/01/kulon-progo-farm-or-die.html