PT. Sintang Raya seized the land of the Kubu Raya community and continued illegal plantation practices;

The National Land Agency (BPN) must take responsibility and revoke the land-use permit (HGU) of PT. Sintang Raya

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

PT. Sintang Raya must immediately stop all operations of the oil palm plantation and BPN must promptly revoke the HGU of PT. Sintang Raya in the Kubu District, Kubu Raya Regency, West Kalimantan Province. This is based on a legal lawsuit by the Kubu Raya community against the HGU of PT. Sintang Raya Number 04/2009 dated June 5, 2009, with a land survey letter dated June 2, 2009, Number 182/2009 with a total area of 11,129.9 hectares.

In the State Administrative Court of Pontianak Decision No. 30/6/2011/ PTUN PTK, declared null and void the certificate of the HGU of PT. Sintang Raya Number 04/2009 dated June 5, 2009, land survey letter dated June 2, 2009, Number 182/2009 with a total area of 11,129.9 hectares. In line with this, despite PT. Sintang Raya’s appeal, the Jakarta State Administrative High Court affirmed the decision of the Pontianak State Administrative Court with Decision Number 22/B/2013 PT. TUN JKT. PT. Sintang Raya pursued a cassation appeal, with registration number 550 K/TUN/2013, but this legal effort could not be executed and was rejected by the Supreme Court of Indonesia as recorded in the Decision dated February 27, 2014.

Kurniawan Sabar, Campaign Manager of WALHI Eknas, stated “considering the rulings of the Pontianak State Administrative Court up to the Supreme Court, PT. Sintang Raya should immediately cease the operation of the oil palm plantation and leave the Kubu District in West Kalimantan. With this decision, PT. Sintang Raya currently has no legal basis to manage the HGU area, which has been legally revoked by the court decision and affirmed by the Supreme Court. BPN Regional Office of Pontianak, as ordered by the court, must promptly revoke the HGU of PT. Sintang Raya totaling 11,129.9 hectares. Meanwhile, PT. Sintang Raya must immediately cease its plantation activities because they no longer have the legal basis to control the land.”

PT. Sintang Raya itself obtained a Principle Permit in 2003 from the local government before there was approval from the Ministry of Law and Human Rights as a legal entity authorized to carry out legal actions. In 2007, upon the land handover signed by the village heads with the promise that the presence of the company would bring prosperity to the community, with the promise of increased employment opportunities and a cooperative business model, and the establishment of a people’s business unit where 20% of the land within the company’s area would be given to the residents, while the remaining 80% would be taken by the company.

According to Yunus, a representative of the Kubu Raya District, “In reality, with the presence of the company, the economic income of the community actually decreased drastically, as besides having their agricultural land forcibly taken over, the presence of the oil palm plantation also affected the crops on the land still managed by the community due to an increase in pests. The agreement between the company and community leaders was not executed (sharing of 20/80), in addition, the community also lacked fresh water due to the depletion of water sources from the forest.”

Furthermore, he added, “In the land takeover from the community, the company used police forces to oversee the land clearing process claiming fear of riots due to the community’s resistance to the eviction carried out by the company. In carrying out their actions, the authorities did not hesitate to intimidate and arrest community members who opposed the presence of PT. Sintang Raya. The intimidation was also done by issuing summons to residents of