Jakarta, November 1, 2024
The Anti-SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation) Coalition, consisting of Walhi, Jatam, KPA, Walhi Sulteng, YTM, AEER, Greenpeace, Trend Asia, Jatam Sulteng, and the NTT Student Union, held a non-violence protest in front of the office of PT Baoshuo Taman Industry Investment Group (BTIIG) in Jakarta. During the protest action, the coalition demanded the following actions.
- End the criminalization and human rights violations against residents in the nickel industry-affected areas.
- End to the criminalization of agrarian defenders in Topogaro and Ambunu villages.
- The cancellation of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Morowali Regional Government and PT BTIIG regarding the use of village roads.
- Halt the use of production access roads in Topogaro and Ambunu villages as PT BTIIG’s hauling roads in Topogaro and Ambunu villages.
- Stop the operation of captive coal power plants that cause air pollution.
PT Baoshuo Taman Industry Investment Group (BTIIG) is a nickel processing company operating in Bungku Barat District, Morowali Regency, Central Sulawesi. The company is developing an industrial zone called Huabao Industrial Park, covering 20,000 hectares across six villages: Wata, Tondo, Ambunu, Topogaro, Umpanga, Larebonu, and Wosu. Currently, the first construction phase is taking place in Topogaro, Tondo, and Ambunu villages. The site includes a 350 MW captive coal power plant, a flyover, ore stockpiles, a smelter, and other facilities.
The industrial zone’s development has been marked by land grabbing and environmental destruction by the company. The company has engaged in forced evictions, farmland destruction, river course alterations, irrigation blocking, illegal reclamation, mangrove destruction, and unilateral seizure of village roads.
Due to these practices, conflicts between the company and local communities have become inevitable. Protests have escalated since 2022, when 14 hectares of farmland owned by farmers in Ambunu Village were bulldozed overnight. Protests continued, reaching their peak between June and July 2024, when PT BTIIG unilaterally claimed village roads in Topogaro and Ambunu for its hauling operations. In response, residents blocked roads in both villages.
The disputed roads serve as the main access to farmland access and were already used by residents long before the company’s arrival, previously existing as dirt roads. Today, heavy vehicle activity, road dust, and nickel ore storage facilities along the roads are severely disrupting residents’ daily lives.
As a consequence of their protests, five residents of Topogaro Village—Rahman Ladanu, Wahid/Imran, Hamdan, Safaat, and Sadam—were reported to the Central Sulawesi Regional Police under Article 162 of Law No. 3 of 2020 on Mining and Minerals. Similarly, five residents of Ambunu Village—Abd Ramadhan A, Hasrun, Moh Rais Rabbie Ambunu, Makmur Ms, and Rifiana Ms—were charged under Article 63(1) in conjunction with Article 12(2) of Law No. 38 of 2004 on Roads.
Beyond criminal charges, PT BTIIG also filed a civil lawsuit against five residents of Topogaro—Rahman Ladanu, Wahid/Imran, Hamdan, Safaat, and Sadam—seeking IDR 14 billion in damages for material and immaterial losses allegedly caused by the blockade protest.
These legal actions are part of a SLAPP strategy aimed at silencing community protests defending their right to a livelihood. They also facilitate the company’s ambitions to develop the nickel industrial zone, which has been designated a National Strategic Project (PSN) under the government’s downstream industrialization policy. The number of criminalization cases is expected to rise as the company continues its industrial development.
Nickel projects, which have proliferated in Morowali and North Morowali since 2014, are beginning to show serious consequences for local communities, including air pollution, workplace accidents, land grabbing, and social inequality. Between 2023 and 2024, waves of protests have also increased in other nickel industrial zones, such as PT Indonesia Morowali Industrial Park (IMIP) and PT Stardust Estate Investment (SEI). However, these protests have been met with further criminalization efforts by the companies. At PT IMIP, for instance, seven individuals who protested against air pollution caused by a coal power plant were summoned by the police under Article 162 of Law No. 3 of 2020 on Mining and Minerals.
— Inesa P.
Contact Information
Siti Zulaika, AEER Association – 082296127311
Yusman, Walhi Sulteng – 085343806525
Fani Trijambore, Walhi National – 083857642883
Moh. Taufik, Jatam Sulteng – 082292095416
