Tens of Thousands of People Ask Minister Sofyan Djalil to Obey the Law

Jakarta, February 12, 2018 – More than 30 thousand people urged the Ministry of Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning/National Land Agency, Sofyan Djalil, to obey the Supreme Court’s decision through change.org/BukaInformasiHGU petition.

In the petition initiated by the Forest Watch Indonesia (FWI), the Ministry of Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning/National Land Agency, Sofyan Djalil, was considered not to obey the law. He closed an information meeting that should belong to the public, the Right to Cultivate documents.

FWI had won the lawsuit up to the Supreme Court for Sofyan Djalil to open the Right to Cultivate documents. Through the Supreme Court’s decision, the Right to Cultivate had been stated as open information for the public. However, it has been 11 months since the Supreme Court’s decision, the minister Sofyan Djalil has not implemented the decision.

According to FWI, Minister Sofyan Djalil’s attitude is very detrimental to society. In the petition, FWI told about Petrus Asuy and the Indigenous People of Muara Tae in East Kalimantan, who had struggled for 46 years to defend their territory from companies’ appropriation. From 10 thousand hectares Muara Tae area, 94% became palm oil and mining area, while only 6% belong to the indigenous people.

“In eight provinces, including East Kalimantan, there are 1,52 million hectares of traditional territory overlapping with company concessions. Often overlaps at the same location are the result of inaccurate information. The lack of access to information also often cause the community to lose on disputes/conflicts regarding land and forest,” stated FWI in their petition.

Linda Rosalina, the FWI campaigner, stated, “There is no more reason for hiding the Right to Cultivate documents. More than 30 thousand voices supported the opening of the Right to Cultivate documents. The Ministry of Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning/National Land Agency must be sincere in accepting and implementing the Supreme Court’s decision.”

One of the petition signers, Abdon Nababan, said, “Closing the public information is the same as defending and protecting corruption. We force the Ministry of Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning/National Land Agency to proactively eradicate the agrarian corruption by opening the Right to Cultivate data to the public.”

Meanwhile, Boy Nasution also supports this petition regarding the injustice of indigenous people, “This republic is an agrarian country, but why is it so difficult for the society for farming? Why can corporations get a thousand hectares of land that clearly only benefit the individual or certain groups? While society is very difficult to get just a few hectares,” said Boy.

* Because the petition is still ongoing, changes in numbers can be fast. To find out the latest number of petition signatories, click on:

change.org/bukainformasiHGU

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