FLORES (UCAN): Catholic priests and nuns joined hundreds of activists demanding a stop to a geothermal project on Flores island in Indonesia, saying the project violates villagers’ land rights and damages the environment.
Protestors marched through public roads on March 12 to the office of Regent Raymundus Bena in Ngada Regency, demanding the revocation of the permit for the project in Mataloko, run by the state’s electricity company, PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara.
“This project is killing us; it is only supporting the investors and their friends,” the Alliance for Flores Geothermal Victims, which coordinated the protest said in a statement.
Divine Word Father Felix Baghi, the alliance’s chairperson, said the project encroached on 996 hectares of indigenous people’s agricultural land.
The project started in 1998, but it has failed to generate electricity so far, with its former drilling hole continuing to spew hot mud up to 500 metres to one kilometre, damaging farmlands, Father Baghi said.
This project is killing us; it is only supporting the investors and their friends
Alliance for Flores Geothermal Victims
The protesters included Catholics from two parishes of the Archdiocese of Ende’s Commission for Justice, Peace, and Integrity of Creation. Priests of Franciscan and Divine Word congregations and seminarians of the Ledalero Institute of Philosophy and Creative Technology also joined.
Father Baghi said the project has been started up again and several new mudflows have reappeared since December, destroying the land, which is the primary source of villagers’ livelihood.
The project, if continued, “will result in the loss of thousands of hectares of agricultural, threatening the lives of local people,” he added.
“The Ngada Regency Government should be more critical in determining the priority, he added.
Maria Anjelina Mogi, an indigenous villager in Mataloko, said that since the project started, her community “has suffered losses, both socially, economically, and environmentally.”
She said, “If the government is with the people, revoking the permit must be its priority.”
She said that despite its failure, the continuation of the project shows that it is disregarding the fundamental rights of people and any environmental concerns.
If the government is with the people, revoking the permit must be its priority
Maria Anjelina Mogi
A similar protest rally was held in Jakarta on March 12 in front of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources office.
Protestors submitted a statement demanding the revocation of all geothermal permits in Flores to ministry officials, according to Franciscan Father Yohanes Wahyu, who participated in the Jakarta protest.
Although the government claims geothermal energy is clean, the priest said several issues attached to it make the claim void.
The protest against the project intensified after Archbishop Paulus Budi Kleden of Ende spoke against them in January, ending the official Church’s silence on such projects.
According to the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry, Flores has a potential of 902 megawatts or 65 percent of the total capacity in East Nusa Tenggara province.
The authorities have identified 16 project sites on the island amid mounting resistance from local people.
