JAVA COLLAPSE FROM FORCED LABOR TO LAPINDO MUDFLOW The Research Team of Java Collapse Irhash Ahmady Tatang Elmy W. Torry Kuswardono Khalisah Khalid B. C. Nusantara V. Santoso Title: JAVA Collapse: From Forced Labor To Lapindo Mudflow Copyright © INSISTPress 2010 First published by INSISTPress and Walhi in 2010 Member of IKAPI Authors: The Research Team of Java Collapse Irhash Ahmady Tatang Elmy W. Torry Kuswardono Khalisah Khalid B. C. Nusantara V. Santoso Editors: Wiranta Yudha Ginting Fitri Indra Harjanti Cover Designer: Eddy Susanto Layout: Handoko NATIONAL LIBRARY: Cataloging-in-Publication (CiP) of JAVA Collapse From Forced Labor To Lapindo Mudflow Editors: Wiranta Yudha Ginting & Fitri Indra Harjanti ; Yogyakarta, May 2010 14 x 21 cm, 211 pages ISBN: 978-602-8384-36-0 1. sustainability of natural services 2. social and ecological improvement 3. human safety and social security I. TITLE Published by INSISTPress in collaboration with Walhi Walhi Jl. Tegal Parang Utara No. 14 Jakarta 12790. Indonesia T.+62-21-791933 63-65 F. +62-21-7941673 [email protected] www.walhi.or.id INSISTPress Jl. Gandok Tambakan No.85 RT04 RW20, Sinduharjo, Ngaglik, Sleman, Yogyakarta. Tel/Faks: 0274-883452. [email protected] www.insist.or.id Foreword The earth needs balance to be able to support the harmonious and sustainable chain of live. Furthermore basically the natural system prevails in this universe is able to meet human needs in a balanced manner. Problem occurs when the human desire to exploit the earth is beyond its carrying capacity to keep itself balanced. Then what happen next is damage and destruction. The declining quality of human life and earth capacity negatively impact the interaction of both. This triggers the threat and vulnerability on the community and will eventually leads to multidimensional disaster and crisis. The continous and interconnected crises on ecology, social, economic and politics are results of the operation of a system of an political economy order which puts the earth and everything in it as commodities. Such political economy system is oriented towards market interest and capital accumulation. Therefore it negates the balance of ecological and socio- cultural aspects. It has destroyed the earlier local systems, norms, and values, which were indeed more capable of ensuring the safety, well-being, and sustainability of a balanced living order. Regional infrastructure projects at various scales have been always aiming to gain profit for all actors involved in the whole chains. Yet it gives litle to none benefits to the local residents and communities. The case studies in this Java Collapse book are plainly portraying the development and expansion of regional infrastructure projects under the banner of community prosperity and welfare. However only a handful of elite circle who enjoys the benefits. The prosperity of the elite is built on misery of the community with their blood and lives. To achieve the prosperity, creative destructive actions became part of Java development process. The change on livinf system is performed on a large scale by dredging the Java’s wealth with high costs. Therefore, the actors’ responses to the declining of profit limit is (always) directly affecting the reform of power, production, consumption and local natural landscape governance with the community as its permanent victims. The entire processes make the community continue to subsidize the elite group until today. People actually realize that the state has never given the benefit of their subsidy (taxes) that they have paid. The people have lost their social memory after experiencing an extreme environmental change due to development interventions. This condition is never taken into account in the development itself. Risk and cost of industrialization process (business external factors) are never accounting the burdens or costs bear by the local community and environment. Domestic industry paradigm remains in rent-seekers character. Although it is a strategic sector with high risk, high capital and high technology, just like the non-strategic industrial sector. Oil and gas industry, which is classified as a strategic sector, is never involving the regional officials in its business planning. Industrialization (apparently) does not develop in a well planned manner and always collide with spatial planning in every region. The impact of disasters caused by industries has always sacrificing the community. The regional officials recognized the fact that the state is powerless to respond the disaster. This book interprets several points about safety and welfare of the community, community resilience to survive and to improve their quality of life, and sustainability of the environmental nature. The process of writing has been delayed for two years due to various reasons, yet with the suppport of various parties, this book is eventually published. The Java Collapse book is expected to be a reference for a variety of advocacy actions, both case by case and systemic ones; to sue public policy and unequal administration structure. In other words, environmental issue is no longer being an exclusive issue. But it becomes mainstream topics in in debates on the role of state in ensuring the fulfillment of citizens’ needs’ and protection of public interest. Equally important, it becomes an effective reference to formulate alternative concepts on state policy in managing the region, in Java or in other islands. In turn, the appropriate policy intervention could potentially triggered public awareness to start demanding state responsibility in ensuring the fulfillment of people safety, prosperity and productivity. At the same time it is also ensuring sustainability of environmental services. For the publishing of this book we would like to thank the victimized communities who shares extraordinary knowledge, which have strengtehn our position and alignment. We thank also our Java Collapse Team that has worked hard and spent numerous time, energy and thoughts to prepare this book. We also thank our colleagues and comrades who contributed ideas in the writing of this book and offered hands so this book could be published. Finally to the readers, we expect critics and suggestions for future improvement. We hope this book can benefits us all. Amin. Jakarta, April 2010 Berry Nahdian Forqan National Executive Director of WALHI Table of Contents Foreword v Chapter 1. On Java Collapse Managing Knowledge 2 Chapter 2. Learning from Java 7 Excellence of Java 7 Whose prosperity? 14 Chapter 3. Recording History, Understanding Crisis 21 Java on the Brink of Collapse 23 Understanding the Crisis 24 Java First Collapse 29 The Great Post Road (1808 – 1811) 32 Power ala Daendels 33 Forced Labor 36 First Stage Resistance 38 Java Second Collapse 40 Chapter 4. From Daendels to Lapindo 48 Why Daendels Post Road 48 Why Bandung Trash 50 Why Betawi? 51 Why Yogya Earthquake 52 Why Lapindo? 54 Chapter 5. Great Post Road: Daendelism in Java Industrialization 56 Location of the Great Post Road 58 Trading Competition to War 60 Power Change: By Choice or Force? 62 Basic Integration of Java Industry 66 Post Road At Last 71 Costs of Industrialization Experiment 72 Ecological Changes 73 Infrastructure Expansion and Migration 75 Encouraging hunger Mendorong kelaparan 77 Java At Last 80 Reference 81 Chapter 6. Trash of Life Style or Life Style of Trash? 84 Bandung is No Exception 85 Bandung Economic Zones Tweedledum and Tweedledee 90 What Happens in Leuwigajah? 93 Waste Management: Survival Type 96 Surviving with Trash 99 Trash Life Style & Factory Outlet Industry 102 Creative Bandung 104 Underground Economy 106 The Greater Bandung Collapse 108 Trapped in Market Mechanism 111 Reference 116 Chapter 7. Exodus Routes of Betawi People: Kuningan-Depok-Bojong Gede via Warung Buncit 117 Decaying Tenurial Relations 119 Mismanagement Urban Development 123 Cosmopolitan & Betawi People 128 Betawi People, Who Cares? 133 Reference 136 Chapter 8. Yogyakarta Earthquake: Do It Yourself (DIY) 138 Emergency Response: Totally Unprepared 140 Recovery: Emergency Response Part Two 145 Rehabilitation & Reconstruction? Sami mawon! 146 Collective Solidarity in Blado Hamlet 149 Key of Change 151 New Market of Earthquake: The Elite is Benefited 152 Spatial Planning, Worsening the Vulnerability 156 Budgets 159 Reference 162 Chapter 9. Lapindo - Jer Basuki (ku) Mawa Bea (mu) 163 East Java, Rich in Oil and Gas 168 Lapindo & the Destruction of Livelihood 171 Brantas Block 180 Porong 180 Tanggulangin 182 Jabon 183 Oil and Gas Industry, Time Bomb of a Regional Collapse 184 Closing 191 Reference 194 Index 196 Chapter 1 ON JAVA Collapse The learning team of Java Collapse was born from long reflections of WALHI’s field works, the biggest environmental Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) in Indonesia. This team was a manifestation of public interest advocacy experiences performed by various NGOs and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs). The reflections gave birth to a thesis about the lack of knowledge basis on systemic works of various events that caused public misery. The learning team of Java Collapse – hereinafter called Java Collapse Team – was building a knowledge management system. This system is expected to become the main reference on advocacy actions with pre-emptive or preventive nature. It is no longer in form of reactive or instant actions, with narrow context and tends to be normative, as done by some NGOs. Therefore public interest advocacy is effective and progressive. It is also able to provide accurate assessment of inevitable impacts of many state policies and implementations on the lives of citizens. As a pre-emptive space, the Java Collapse Team shall be the provider of basic materials and contexts for public interest advocacy works, as well as long-term work on education and learning development to future WALHI generations. The big dream is to remodel regional development paradigm in this archipelagic country. That was why the Java Collapse Team designed with knowledge management strategy, not directing it directs it as an information center. This book is the first product of the Thematic Research of Java Collapse Team.