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Working Paper 3 - The Political Economy of Aceh's Post-Helsinki Reconstruction
Working Paper 3 - The Political Economy of Aceh's Post-Helsinki Reconstruction
Working Paper 3 - The Political Economy of Aceh's Post-Helsinki Reconstruction
2
PROFITING FROM PEACE:
The Political economy of Aceh’s post-Helsinki reconstruction1
=========================================================
By George Junus Aditjondro2
The largest companies on the top of the pyramid are ExxonMobil3, which has
been exploiting natural gas from the Lhok Sukon fields for the last two decades. Together
with Pertamina, the Indonesian state oil and gas company, ExxonMobil owns PT Arun
LNG, which liquefies the gas and export the LNG to Japan and South Korea.
1
The Paper is written based on the Fireld Research in Aceh sponsored by the International NGO Forum on
Indonesian Development (INFID), in March – May 2007.
2 ). Independent researcher, specializing in investigating regional conflicts in the Indonesian
archipelago and post‐conflict and post‐disaster reconstruction in Indonesia and East Timor.
Apart from working voluntarily as research and publication consultant to Yayasan Tanah
Merdeka in Palu, Dr. Aditjondro is a guest lecturer in Marxism, New Social Movements and
Research Methodology at Sanata Dharma University’s Postgraduate Programme. His recent work
has been on the shrinking democratic space in Indonesia and East Timor (Aditjondro 2007a,
2007b). This paper is based on library research on Aceh which he has carried out in Australia
since 1998, and three field trips to Banda Aceh, Meulaboh, and Takengon in early 2007.
3 ). Last year (2006), Exxon Mobil became the biggest company on Fortune’s list of 500 largest US
companies. This offspring of John D. Rockefeller’s Standard Oil, the trust that was broken up by
the US government under the Anti Trust Law nearly a century ago, produced 1.5 billion barrels
of oil and gas in 2005. Its market capitalization reached US$ 375 billion, with an annual profit of
US$ 36.1 billion in 2005. It paid US$ 8 billion in dividends to its 2.5 million shareholders,
employed 83,700 workers in six continents, and spent roughly US$ 15 billion on exploration and
production. The company’s US$ 36.1 billion in profits at a time when US citizens had to pay US$
2.50 a gallon for gasoline made Exxon Mobil a target of criticism by US citizens and Senators. It is
also drawing increased criticism by environmentalists for its support for drilling in the Arctic
National Wildlife Refuge (Fortune, 12 April 2006: 51‐62).
3
ExxonMobil’s supremacy as the largest company operating in Aceh, however,
is currently strongly challenged by Indonesia’s largest private oil and gas mining
company, Medco4. This company is producing 4,500 barrels of oil daily from its offshore
Langsa Block, in a fifty-fifty joint venture with Mitsui Oil Exploration Company from
Japan (Kompas, 7 Jan. 2004; Warta Ekonomi, 21 Febr. 2005: 21, 27; Swasembada, 7-20
Sept. 2006: 34). That did not satisfy Medco’s appetite for more oil and gas fields: in April
2006, Medco took over 50% of the A Block concession area near Lhokseumawe, in a
three fold joint venture with Japan Petroleum Exploration Co. Ltd. and Premier Oil
Natuna Sea BV. This latest acquisition allowed Medco to suppy natural gas to the two
fertilizer companies in Aceh, namely PT Pupuk Iskandar Muda (PIM) and PT ASEAN
Aceh Fertilizer (Jakarta Post, 21 Sept. 2005; Koran Tempo, 22 Sept. 2005; Investor, 9-
23 May 2006:25; Swasembada, 7-20 Sept. 2006: 48).
Since the restoration of peace in Aceh, the mining sector has expanded beyond
the oil and gas. Three companies are involved in exploring for gold, two of them foreign
companies and one national company. The two foreign companies are Dutch Phillips, a
Dutch company which has asked a favour from US President George W. Bush, to
approach his Indonesian counterpart, SBY, to obtain a mining concession in the district
of Aceh Barat Daya (Aditjondro 2005: 40).
The second one is a Canadian mining company, East Asia Mineral Corporation,
which is planning to mine gold in the highlands of Central Aceh, in the subdistricts of
Bintang, Linge, Ketol, and Rusep Antara (formerly, Silih Nara). In fact, Thomas Mulya,
an economic geologist employed by the company, has surveyed several rivers in Ketol
and Linge subdistricts since 1995, long before the current rush for Aceh’s resources. In
these discoveries, known as the Takengon Project, the gold ore was found at a depth of
400 to 800 meters at a rate of 11 ppm, and at five meters below the earth surface, the gold
ore is mixed with copper, tin, and zinc. Local villagers along the Pameu river system in
Rusep Antara subdistrict have been panning gold from the river (Serambi Indonesia, 8
Nov. 2006; Investor Daily, 1 March 2007).
4 ). Medco is a family company of Arifin Panigoro, formerly a crony of Soeharto, whose in‐law,
Edi Kowara Adiwinata, was given shares in the company, which after Edi Kowara’s death was
passed over to his son, Indra Rukmana, the husband of Soeharto’s eldest daughter, Siti
Hardiyanti Rukmana, aka Tutut. Apart from his oil and hotel business, Arifin and one of his
siblings, Yunar Panigoro, own a timber company, PT Sega Tunggal Indonusa (PDBI 1994: B‐261).
5 ) In the gold mine exploration by the Media Group in Nagan Raya, four experts used Freeport
mining overall customs, as observed by Al Mujahid, Seuramboe Aceh journalist, on 23 March 2007,
and relayed to the author in Meulaboh, on Monday, 30 April 2007. Local workers at one of the
exploration drilling site also told the author of this report, that foreigners from Freeport were
4
Geologists and mining engineers working for Surya Paloh’s Media Group are
currently exploring the gold deposits of Beutong Ateuh, about five kilometers from
Babuk Mukaramah, a famous dayah or pesantren (Muslim boarding school) (see
Attachment I). When the author of this report visited the exploration site on 1 and 2 May
2007, accompanied by NGO activists from West Aceh, the exploration had only taken
place for three months, with huge drilling equipments drilling the ore body down to 800
months below the earth surface. In the exploration base camp we were shown ore
samples, which were packed in 200 kg bags, and flown by the commercial flights from
Meulaboh to Medan, from where the samples were flown to Intertech laboratory in
Jakarta where the gold and associated minerals in the ore body were identified. Apart
from the engineers who had experience in exploration work in West Papua, the sixty
workers were recruited by the Media Group through the Beutong Ateuh mukim head.
In addition to exploring for gold, Surya Paloh (born in Kutaraja [= Banda Aceh]
on 16 July 1951), is also exploring for coal in Meureboh and Kaway XVI subdistricts in
West Aceh and Kuala subdistrict in Nagan Raya. Coal from those mines will be used,
among others to fuel the steam power plant that the Media Group is build in the Kuta
Makmur village in Kuala subdistrict, Nagan Raya. Interestingly, the capital for Paloh’s
new business enterprises in Aceh comes partly from the Rp 200 billion donations from
viewers of Paloh’s television station, Metro TV, aimed to help the victims of the
December 2004 earthquake in Aceh. These funds are managed by Paloh’s Sukma
Foundation, which is officially, financing charity activities, namely the reconstruction of
schools in tsunami and earthquake-hit villages (Nasution 2005: 33; Aditjondro 2007).
Surya Paloh is not a newcomer to the Aceh business scene. His catering
company, PT IndoCater, which employs more than 3,000 workers, and obtained credits
from Bank Bumi Daya (BBD) due to Paloh’s position as chairperson of the Veteran
Children’s Communication Forum (FKPPI = Forum Komunikasi Putra-Putri
Purnawirawan Indonesia) and closeness to the Soeharto family6, has catered for the
logistics of many large foreign companies, a.o. Exxon Mobil in Lhokseumawe and PT
Pupuk Kaltim in East Kalimantan (Swasembada, 31 May-21 June 2001: 83; Nasution
2005: 40-1 ). But with the reconstruction rush in his home province, many new business
opportunities have been opened for him, using charity funds from Metro TV ‘s viewers.
visiting the site on 2 May 2007. Other sources told the author of this report that the mining
operation was a joint venture between Surya Paloh’s Media Group and Ibrahim Risyad’s
Risyadson Group.
6 ) Surya Paloh is married to Rosita Barack, an elder sister of Rosano Barack, also known as Cano.
Cano is a close friend of Bambang Trihatmodjo, former President Soeharto’s second son and
owned of the Bimantara business group. In fact, Cano is also a founding shareholder of the
Bimantara Group. In addition, Surya Paloh collaborated with Bambang Trihatmodjo in
developing the veteran children’s organization. FKPPI (Nasution 2005: 42, 44, 47). Paloh’s son,
Prananda, is also very close to Tommy Soeharto, since Tommy’s luxurious US$ 13.7 million
yacht, Obsessions, was for years registered in Cayman Islands under the Prananda’s name
(interviews with a key informant in Australia, 1998 till 2001).
5
A similar strategy of improving one’s company’s public profile by donating
relief funds generated from the public, while expanding businesses enterprise in the
tsunami and earthquake-torn province is also adopted by other Indonesian celebrities,
such as Siti Hartati Murdaya and Aburizal Bakrie.
Siti Hartati Murdaya (= Chow Lie Ing) has the dual function as a top business
woman and as a leading philanthropist, being the chairperson of two Buddhist
organizations, WALUBI (Perwakilan Umat Buddha Indonesia ) and KCBI (Keluarga
Cendekiawan Buddhis Indonesia). Since the Soeharto era, she has been one of the top
financial supporters of Soeharto’s political party, Golkar, which is now led by the Vice
President, Jusuf Kalla, while her husband, Murdaya Widyawimarta (= Poo Tjie Gwan) is
currently a parliamentarian of Megawati Soekarnoputri’s party, PDI-P (Swasembada, 6-
19 April 2006: 98-102). She is also known to be close to a number of (retired) Army
general, a.o. the former intelligence chief. Let.Gen. (Ret) A.M. Hendropriyono
(Aditjondro 2002: 26). Through WALUBI, she has donated logistics to Aceh’s tsunami
and earthquake victims in collaboration with the Indonesian Air Force.
So, since WALUBI has focused on the Aceh Jaya district, where the Buddhist
organization has built permanent houses for tsunami victims in Calang, it is quite likely
that the Murdayas’ CCM (Central Caraka Murdaya) Group, which is also in forestry and
oil palm plantations, may be interested in those those two business sectors, in addition to
building in power generators and power lines.
6
UNFORTUNATELY, while helping to educate female Acehnese children, the
Bakrie family has simultaneously carried out a disastrous housing scheme. The family’s
charity arm, namely the Bakrie Foundation, has been strongly criticized by environmental
NGOs in Aceh, for building 240 houses from asbestos in the Deyah Raya Village in the
Syiah Kuala Subdistrict in Aceh’s capital city, Banda Aceh. Ironically, although Andy
Siswanto, the Housing and Resettlement Deputy of the Aceh and Nias reconstruction
supervisory body, BRR NAD-Nias (Badan Koordinasi Rehabilitasi dan Rekonstruksi
Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam dan Nias), has on 8 January 2007, issued an official
Memorandum No. M-010/BRR.08/I/2007, prohibiting the use of asbestos in houses built
for the tsunami victims, BRR NAD-Nias has not had the courage to force the Bakrie
Foundation to replace the houses which they build from that carcinogenic substance
(WALHI Aceh Press Statement, 2 February 2007).
The Bakrie Foundation, however, is not the only pseudo-commercial charity using
this dangerous substance. As I observed on 8 February 2007, the Buddhist Tzu Chi
Foundation7 has built even more houses with asbestos walls in the West Aceh district. It
is planning to build 1,100 of such houses in the Meureboh subdistrict, of which about a
half of them had been finished during my field observation. Likewise, as I observed on
12 April 2007 with colleagues from WALHI Aceh and Acehkita tabloid, the same
foundation has built 1800 similar houses with asbestos walls near Banda Aceh, the capital
of Aceh.
Interestingly, the Artha Graha Group has close connections to President SBY,
through SBY’s security advisor, Ret. Mayor General TB Silalahi, a top executive of
Artha Graha who has facilitated the expansion of Artha Graha to Nias, by forming joint
ventures with the North Sumatra top Chinese business triad (see Aditjondro 2006: 416-8).
And although Artha Graha’s proposal for a blue print for the reconstruction of the fatally
damaged district capital of Aceh Barat, Meulaboh, has been rejected, due to the
7 ) The headquarters of this foundation is in Taiwan. It is its Indonesian branch which is building
the asbestos walled houses in Aceh, presumably with the financial support from the business
conglomerates owned by the executives of its Indonesian branch.
7
opposition of Western Aceh religious leaders (ulama),8 the group still operates –
indirectly -- in Aceh.
So, one can see from these examples that BRR does not seem to have the power,
the courage, or the moral ground to prohibit the use of dangerous substances in the
housing schemes. It may not even have the power of courage to act as a filter for other
harmful projects to be build in Aceh, which may be caused by the lack of impartiality of
the BRR head, Kuntoro Mangkusubroto, as we will see later in this position paper.
WITH some exceptions, as we will see later in this report, the reconstruction of
major infrastructure projects, damaged by the December 2004 tsunami and earthquake,
has been carried out by civil engineering companies owned by the Indonesian
government and managed under the umbrella of the Department of Public Works. PT
Wijaya Karya, also known as WIKA, is one of them. PT PP (Pembangunan Perumahan)
is another one, which has been the main, or sole contractor of the Buddha Tzu Chi
Foundation in building the asbestos-walled public houses in Banda Aceh and Meulaboh.
PT PP has two offices in Banda Aceh and two offices in Meulaboh to support their work
(NAD 2006-2007 Phonebook, Yellow Pages, p. 19).
PT PP has also been chosen as the contractor to build several buildings financed
by donations from readers of Kompas, Indonesia’s largest daily newspaper. These
include the high-rise houses for lecturers of IAIN Ar-Raniry postgraduate program, a
dormitory for students of Syiah Kuala University, both in Banda Aceh, and an integrated
school from kindergarten to high school in Meulaboh (Kompas, 28 Dec. 2005: 36).
8 ) It is well‐known among Aceh ulama and pro‐democracy activists that Artha Graha, whose
main financial wizard is Sugianto Kusuma, also known as Aguan under his Chinese name, made
their fortune by organizing gambling and high class prostitution (see Aditjondro 2006: 419‐20).
Hence, the Acehnese ulama rejected Artha Graha’s offer, but did not resist the construction of
thousands of houses by the Buddha Tzu Chi Foundation where Sugianto Kusuma is vice‐
chairman of the Indonesian branch.
8
Three other state-owned companies involved in the reconstruction of Aceh are PT
Waskita Karya, PT Adhi Karya, PT Istaka Karya, PT Hutama Karya, and PT Nindya
Karya. Waskita Karya has three offices in Banda Aceh, Adhi Karya has two offices in
Meulaboh and another one in Lhokseumawe, Istaka Karya has two offices in Banda
Aceh, Hutama Karya has an office in Banda Aceh, Nindiya Karya has an office in Banda
Aceh (Trust, 4-10 April 2005: 74; NAD 2006-2007 Phonebook, idem).
This dominant role of state-owned construction firms in Aceh has not pushed all
other companies out of the construction field, especially in road building. Local
companies have still obtained large construction orders. For instance, a local
businessman, H. T. Alaidinsyah, also known as Haji Tito, the only local Acehnese
contractor who owns heavy equipment for road building and bridge construction. He has
built a segment of the provincial road from Meulaboh on the West coast to the borders
between West Aceh and Central Aceh, financed from the 2000 annual provincial budget,
as well as the road from Meulaboh to Tutut, on the upstreams section of the Woyla river
in West Aceh, and from Tutut to Geumpang in the Pidie district. Unfortunately, the roads
built by this local businessman is of poor quality, which could be linked with his capacity
‘to serve’ district and provincial politicians and bureaucrats.9
. Then, on the west coast of Aceh, the Japanese and US governments have been
involved in building the West Coast road from Banda Aceh to Meulaboh. The section
from Calang to Meulaboh was financed by the government of Japan and was finished in
December 2006. This segment of Aceh’s West Coast road, which was heavily damaged
by the earthquake and tsunami on 26 December 2004, was built by the earlier mentioned
Aceh businessman, Haji Tito, who had subcontracted this road section to the state-owned
construction firm, PT Adhi Karya.10
9 ) H. Tito is the chairperson of the West Aceh chapter of the contractors’ association, GAPENSI,
and deputy chairperson of the provincial GAPENSI board. Formerly a member of Soeharto’s
political party, Golkar, after Soeharto’s descent from power he moved to Amien Rais’ PAN, and
became the deputy chairperson of PAN for West Aceh district. (information via sms from Abdul
Jalil, director of the Grassroots Society Foundation in Meulaboh on 23 May and 6 June 2007).
10). Mentioned on the memorial, signed by the Bupati of West Aceh, built to commemorate the
completion of the Calang Meulaboh road, donated by the people of Japan to the people of Aceh
(Observed by Abdul Djalil and relayed by sms to the author of this report on 26 May 2007).
9
Prawiranegara, a crony of former President Soeharto, and former Special Assistant of the
President, former Indonesian Ambassador to the Netherlands, former Minister for
Religion, and former Coordinating Minister for Politics and Security (Aditjondro 2006:
206; Advertisement in Serambi, 8 Febr. 2007).
Hence, Andalas, Padang and Holcim cement are the three most popular brands
of cement used in many infrastructure projects in Aceh. These projects have been
distributed to several foreign and domestic companies. The reconstruction of the Krueng
Raya harbour in Aceh Besar district, has been carried out by a Dutch company, while the
reconstruction of the Meulaboh harbour has been carried out by the Singaporean branch
of Mercy Relief, supported by the Singaporean Government. The construction of the Tjut
Nyak Dien airport, near Meulaboh, has been carried out by BRR.
10
Jakarta-based top business lawyer and human rights activist, and his business partner,
John Sinaga, architect and owner of Hotel Silintong on Samosir Island on Lake Toba.
The daily rate of this 3-starred hotel is up to Rp 500,000 per night. Then, although it has
an expatriate manager, the Banda Aceh Swiss-belhotel is a joint venture between Swiss-
belhotel and Hermes Thamrin, the CEO of Nokia Indonesia, as the largest shareholder,
Surya Paloh, and AzwarAbubakar, a former governor of Aceh.
Starbucks and Caswell are the two most frequented Western-style coffee shops
in Banda Aceh. While Starbucks only serves coffee from different parts of the world,
Caswell and Pace Bene, an Italian food restaurant which is also located in Peunayong, in
the heart of Banda Aceh, also serve alcoholic drinks. This shows a degree of tolerance
shown to non-Acehnese, especially expatriates, since the consumption of alcoholic drinks
is prohibited under Islamic law. Fast food restaurants, such as KFC, A & W, Pizza Hut
and Pizza House, have also appeared in Banda Aceh.
Not surprisingly, and not necessarily connected with the Helsinki agreement,
Finland-made Nokia cellphones are the most popular cellphone brand in Aceh, or, at
least, in Banda Aceh.11 Its show room appeared in Banda Aceh in mid 2006 in
Peunayong, in the centre of Banda Aceh, where Caswell is also located. The second most
popular cellphone used in Aceh, is Sony Ericsson (Basuki 2005). With Nokia’s close ties
with the Indonesian cellphone operator, Telkomsel (Press Release Nokia, 14 June 2005),
Nokia cellphones and Telkomsel vouchers are most widely used in Aceh. Telkomsel’s
red-and-white colored towers are currently spread out all over Aceh’s country side, as is
the case in most remote places in Indonesia.
Different brand of cars are also competing for a market share in Aceh. Unlike
other parts of Indonesia where cars originating from Japan and South Korea dominate the
market, in Aceh cars from other parts of the world, especially Western Europe and North
America, are trying to outsell each other, using different marketing gimmicks. PT BMW
Indonesia is trying to compete with Ford, which claims to be the largest automotive
company in the world, by donating three laboratory cars to secondary school children in
Banda Aceh, in collaboration with Indonesia’s second largest Islamic organization,
Muhammadiyah (Serambi Indonesia, 11-12 April 2007). This is probably their way to
show to Aceh’s young generation, that German automotive technology, represented by
BMW, is superior to the US, or Ford, technology.
While cars, cellphones, cafes, and fast food are more closely associated with the
middle and upper classes involved in the ‘reconstruction business’, one company which
has certainly benefited from the 2004 tsunami and the following emergency relief,
rehabilitation and reconstruction work is PT Indofood Sukses Makmur. Instant noodles
made from flour, which in turn is made from wheat imported from Australia, the US,
) Due to former President Martti Ahtisaari’s role in brokering the Helsinki peace agreement
11
between GAM and the Government of Indonesia, Finland’s reputation as the country where
Nokia is produced may have raised its popularity in Aceh. Nevertheless, any increase in Nokia’s
market benefits the former President’s son, Marko Ahtisaari, who happens to be one of Nokia’s
director.
11
Canada and Argentina, have increased the value of Indofood’s shares. Ironically, thanks
to the tsunami in Aceh, the values of Indofood’s shares had risen from Rp 700 – 800 per
share before the tsunami, to Rp 820 on 14 January 2005 (Trust, 17-23 Jan. 2005: 17, 10-
16 April 2006: 8).
Fortunately, since Finance Minister Sri Mulyani refused to allocate those funds,
the helicopters were seized by Indonesian custom officials, since the company owed Rp
2.1 billion duties to the government, after some of those helicopters had been used to help
flood victims in the Aceh Tamiang district, last December (idem).
Rumours are circulating in Banda Aceh and Meulaboh, that Kalla’s business
interests in the reconstruction of Aceh, are not limited to that helicopter scandal.
According to Intelijen, a weekly intelligence tabloid, JK is grooming three persons to
conduct recovery businesses in Aceh, namely his brother-in-law, Aksa Mahmud, owner
of the Bosowa business group, Paskah Suzetta, Minister of Development Planning and
head of the National Development Planning Body (BAPPENAS), who is also a respected
property developer, and an un-named business person of Chinese origin. The latter is
involved in development projects in Meulaboh (Intelijen, 4-17 Jan. 2007: 15).
12
East Java (Gatra, 20 Oct. 2004; Kontan, 24 August 2005; Prospektif, 10-16 April 2006:
15, 21).
One of JK’s family companies, PT Bumi Karsa, also has a history in building
roads and dams, and upgrading airports, namely the Makassar, Biak, and Banda Aceh
airport. Another Kalla family company, PT Kalla Lines, has a special ship to carry
asphalt for the reconstruction of roads. This ship is managed by Langlang Wilangkoro,
JK’s son-in-law from his second daughter, who also manages PT Nusantara Air Charter,
which leases transport airplanes such as Fokker F-28 (Prospektif, 10-16 April 2006: 21;
Tempo, 30 Oct. 2005: 84). Hence, it is quite possible that the Vice President’s relatives
also have their fingers in Aceh’s reconstruction pie. Anyhow, with the appointment of
Halim Kalla, one of the Vice President’s younger brothers, as a commissioner in Lion Air
since the end of 2004 (Prospektif, 10-16 April 2006, Cover Story, pp. 12-19), the Kalla
family is also benefiting from the increased flights to and from Banda Aceh.
13
In a similar fashion as the Muhammadiyah connections, Minister Bachtiar
Chamsyah, a PPP appointee, has distributed part of the Social Affairs aid through PPP
members as contractors. This has especially been the case with fishing boats donated to
fisherfolks, and calves donated to farmers. These calves have been donated to farmers
who were members of an organization promoted by the Department of Social Affairs,
FKPSM (Forum Komunikasi Pekerja Swadaya masyarakat ). Unfortunately, boats and
calves which do not match the described qualities have been observed by NGO activists
whom I interviewed in Meulaboh on 8-9 February 2007.
This East Timor war veteran, who had been involved in provoking the bloody
crackdown on youth activists at the Santa Cruz cemetery in Dili on 12 November 1991,
personally signed all memoranda to release the relief from the Army-controlled depot.
This military red tape had caused many disaster victims to suffer from hunger, causing
them to protest against Col. Lantara’s red tape. Lantara was eventually removed and was
honoured by his superiors in Jakarta, although he and his subordinates benefited
personally from the relief aid. In addition to cutting their own part from the relief aid,
military personnel also looted the people’s personal items, since they controlled the entire
town of Meulaboh during the first fortnight after the tsunami. Hence, NGO activists I
have interviewed in Meulaboh, had questioned the honoring of Col. Lantara.
During the initial rehabilitation and reconstruction phase, the Army was also
involved in opening up the road from Teunom to Arongan in West Aceh. Currently, the
military does not seem to carry out their own businesses in the Western Aceh districts,
but act, instead, as guardians for Surya Paloh’s coal and gold mining operations. Paloh is,
in fact, the son of a retired military officer, and was head of the retired military children’s
organization, FKPPI (Forum Komunikasi Putra-Putri Purnawirawan ABRI Indonesia).
14
Military businesses, can be differentiated between businesses affiliated with
military institutions, namely the KODAM, KOREM, and KODIM; businesses owned by
relatives or family members of top military officials12; and the renting of military owned
properties to private companies. Examples of the first type is the special relation between
Husaini Setiawan from PT Kana Family Group with the KOREM in Lhokseumawe, with
the approval of the KODAM, and the opening up of the military owned golf course in
Lhok Nga to the public. Another example is the sawmill in Jalan Kotalintang Bawah in
Kota Kuala Simpang in Aceh Tamiang district, where logs from whatever legal or illegal
logging operation is sawn into lumber and sold to the public.
Finally, a handful of companies set up during the Soeharto presidency and were
formerly owned by Soeharto’s relatives and cronies, also involve retired officers. One of
the most outstanding ones is PT Tusam Hutani Lestari, a timber concession in Takengon,
Central Aceh which is owned by (Ret) Lieutenant General Prabowo Subianto and his
younger brother, Hasyim Djojohadikusumo, whose office is in the Bidakara Tower on
Gatot Subroto Road in South Jakarta.
Apart from PT Tusam Hutani Lestari, there are also other timber concessions
and paper and pulp mills operating in Central Aceh, namely PT Alas Helau13, PT Aceh
12 ) The recent flood in Aceh Tamiang is allegedly caused by illegal logging carried out by
military personnel, assisted by their operators and cronies, in the Gunung Leuser National Park.
Logs from this national park has been transported for use in building resettlement houses for the
refugees, as well as for more commercial use in North Sumatera, as well as in North Aceh, East
Aceh, Aceh Tamiang, and South East Aceh. This was relayed to the author by a post‐graduate
student from Aceh, while on the flight back from Medan to Yogyakarta, on 11 June 2007.
13 ) PT Alas Helau, which is also a shareholder in the paper mill, PT Kertas Kraft Aceh, is partly
owned by the family of Ret. General Ibnu Sutowo (Prospektif, 9‐15 January 2006: 13). The late
Ibnu Sutowo is the former president director of Indonesia’s state oil and gas company,
PERTAMINA, which made the company nearly bankrupt due to the US$ 10 billion credit to gas
tanker producers in the US and their Swiss banker, Roy Rappaport. Nevertheless, the retired
general and Soeharto’s golfing friend was never taken to court, and on his death, he was buried
15
Mdf Wood Product, PT Takengon Paper and Pulp, and PT Indonusa Indrapura14, and PT
Kertas Kraft Aceh, which were – or still are – owned by members of the Soeharto family
and their cronies, which are all threatened by Governor Irwandy’s pledge for a
moratorium on all logging activities in Aceh, regardless of whether they are illegal or
legal. That is probably why PT Tusam Hutani Lestari and PT Kertas Kraft Aceh, put big
advertisements in Serambi Indonesia , Aceh’s biggest daily on 8 February 2007,
applauding the inauguration of Irwandy Yusuf as Governor and Muhammad Nazar as his
deputy.
in the national cemetery for heroes in Jakarta. He left a fortune for his wife and children to further
expand their family companies. Ibnu Sutowo’s eldest daughter, Endang Utari Sutowo
Mokodompit, is a majority shareholder of Guthrie GTS Ltd (Prospektif, 9‐15 January 2006: 9‐33).
14 ). PT Aceh Mdf Wood Product and PT Takengon Pulp & Paper Utama are joint ventures
between Ibrahim Risyad, formerly the top Acehnese businessman due to his closeness to
Soeharto’s main money maker, Liem Sioe Liong, and the son of former Minister of Industry,
Hartarto. These factories produce medium density fibre (140,000 m3) and pulp (300,000 tonnes),
supplied by raw material from PT Indonusa Indrapuri timber estate (PDBI 1994: B‐110, B‐294;
PDBI 1997, Vol. III: A‐1508, A‐1514). The partnership of Ibrahim Risyad’s son with the sons of
Hartarto has been solidified in the Risyadson Group, which also control three oil palm
plantations in South Aceh, Aceh Tamiang, and on the island of Simeuleu, and has a mining
company, PT Aceh Resources & Minerals Corp. (see Appendix II).
16
As was the usual habit of the media during the military occupation of Aceh, the
Medan-based daily Waspada identified the attackers at the Cunda market in
Lhokseumawe as “OTK” (orang tak dikenal, or ‘unknown persons’), a label reserved for
persons who could neither be identified as members of the Indonesian armed forces nor
members of the Aceh Freedom Movement, or GAM.
“The extent to which the TNI will support these groups remains unclear, but
looking back at Aceh’s history and the TNI’s links to local militia groups, the TNI
needs (at least theoretically) to be counted among the potential spoilers of the
peace process” (2006: 19).
Pulo Gadeng is not an entirely new group. During the armed conflict between
GAM and the Indonesian armed forces, TNI, it was run by family members of Muzakir
Manaf, imported used cars from Singapore and exported beetle nuts (pinang) to Malaka,
Malaysia. After the Helsinki agreement, Muzakir Manaf publicly took over the leadership
of the group, in the position of Direktur Utama, or CEO. Under him are other directors,
namely H. Tarmizi Yusdja and Zulkifli bin Ubit, who is also a commissioner of the
Group. It began by publicly using the Sabang free port on the island of Weh, north of the
Aceh mainland, as a major entry point for its trade with Malaysia. It uses KM Pulau Weh,
which is owned by the Sabang municipality, to export coconuts, beetle nuts and cocoa
beans from Sabang and mainland Aceh to Malaysia, and imported used and brand new
17
luxurious cars from Malaysia to Aceh. In its maiden voyage from Malaysia to Aceh, the
Malaysian ship, Jatra III, shipped luxurious cars, from Toyota Cygnus to BMW seri 5
with Malaysian plate numbers to be used by GAM officials in Aceh (Intelijen, 30 June-
13 July 2006: 7).
Pulo Gadeng seems to expand further and further every day. Another steel mill
which the Group has built in the Arongan Lambalek subdistrict, West Aceh. Its products,
using the trade mark Ubong Beusoe, have already been used by BRR NAD-Nias since
mid March 2007. Then, in the mountain resort of Takengon in Central Aceh, Pulo
Gadeng will develop horticulture production, to export potatoes and vegetables to
Malaysia, under an MoU recently signed with Malaysian business peoples (idem).
To further promote Aceh’s export and import trade, Pulo Gadeng is also
planning to upgrade the facilities of the Malahayati port, at the Krueng Raya industrial
complex in Aceh Besar, near Banda Aceh, by installing 150 ton cranes at the port, which
is hopefully completed at the end of April 2007. Thereby, construction materials could
also be uploaded and downloaded from ships at that port (idem). And in the Aceh Jaya
district, according to sources in Meulaboh, the group is also expanding its business
tentacles.
Under Pulo Gadeng’s umbrella are PT Bank Perkeditan Rakyat Syariah (BPRS)
Samudera Niaga; PT Matangkuli Perdana; PT Krueng Kureutou; PT Pandu Buana
Nusantara; CV Aneuk Piranha, and CV Mawar Sejati (Serambi Indonesia, 8 Febr. 2007,
advertisement).
Other companies involving former GAM officials are Aceh World Trade Centre
(AWTC) Dagang Holding, PT Aneuk Nanggroe Expedition Bireuen, PT Megah Mulia,
and PT Halimun Meugah Raya. AWTC is directed by Nurdin Abdul Rahman, formed
head of GAM for Malaysia and Australia. He signed an MoU with Mohd. Khairuddin bin
Othman, General Manager of PPLM (Perusahaan Pengangkutan Laut Malaysia) in
Kuala Lumpur on 15 January 2006, to promote shipping of passengers and goods from
Nottingham port on Penang Island in Malaysia. Under that agreement, Jatra III is sailing
weekly from Penang to Krueng Geukeuh in Lhokseumawe on Saturdays. Its maiden
voyage took place on Sunday, 29 January 2006, though (Intelijen, 30 June-13 July 2006:
6).
18
Then, as its name indicates, PT Aneuk Nanggroe Expedition Bireuen, operates
from Bireuen, and is directed by Tengku Yusuf Abdul Wahab. In Pidie, a former GAM
stronghold, PT Meugah Mulia is active in civil engineering contracts. PT Halimun
Meugah Raya is active in the same district, Pidie, and is owned by former GAM/TNA
combatants, and deals in supplying river sand for civil engineering contracts. Former
members of GAM’s female wing, Inong Bale,which includes female combatants and
widows or fallen male combatants, are also involved in PT Halimin Meugah Raya, which
is directed by Said Rizal Pahlepi, and is based in Meutiara, Beureuneung (Intelijen, 30
June-13 July 2006: 7).
Other former GAM commanders have also set up companies, for themselves as
well as to improve the socio-economic condition of their followers. The KPA chief for
Pase, Tengku Zulkarnaen, is coordinating the formation of companies to deal with trading
and workshops in the Pase and Lhokseumawe area, asking former TNA combatants to
contribute Rp 12 million each. Its member companies cover many places in the Pase area,
such as the Matangkuli, Gendong, Pantonlabu, Tanah Jambo Aye and Sawang
subdistricts. While Teungku Nashiruddin bin Ahmed, a former GAM negotiator at
Helsinki, has set up his own building materials company (idem).
19
By opening flights, investments are expected. That has already been pioneered
by the North Aceh district government, which has invited Metro Pajang, a Malaysian
company, to develop North Aceh’s oil palm potentials by building a palm oil factory,
utilizing the CPO tank at the Krueng Geukeh port. In addition, according to North Aceh
acting district head (bupati), Teuku Pribadi, Metro Panjang also plans to develop the
district’s fishery potentials (Acehkita, 4-10 Dec. 2006: 14).
“The fate of these Acehnese exiles is not clear. Many reportedly returned to
Aceh, with some even selling their businesses in Malaysia in order to start anew
in their homeland. But after months of unemployment and stagnation in Aceh,
just as many have allegedly returned to Malaysia. This is an unfortunate
development for Aceh, which needs the participation of as many Acehnese as
possible for true rehabilitation and rebuilding, both in the physical and mental
sense” (2006: 128).
Governor Irwady Yusuf’s open door policy towards Malaysia has been welcomed
by Malaysian palm oil companies, which have formed the Aceh Plantation Development
Authority (APDA) in collaboration with Acehnese business people. APDA plans to open
145,000 hectares of oil palm plantations in the province, supported by the Malaysian
Islamic Economic Development Foundation (Yayasan Pembangunan Ekonomi
Malaysia). Those plantations are planned to supply oil palm kernels to thirteen CPO
factories, with a total investment of US$ 488 million (acehkita.com, 13 Febr. 2007).
These plans need to be taken with a lots of grains of salt. Why? Because it is
actually Malaysia, which is benefiting from expanding its oil palm plantations into Aceh,
not the other way around, due to the lack of space for expanding plantations in Malaysia.
At the moment, six Malaysian companies – Kumpulan Guthrie Bhd, PPB Oil Palms,
Kulim Bhd (Johor Group), KL Kepong, Golden Hope Plantations, Rimbun Sawit Bhd,
20
Oriental Holdings Bhd, and Sime Darby Bhd15 – control 541,400 hectares of oil palm
plantations in Indonesia, and mainly on the island of Sumatra. That is about 10 % of the
total areal of oil palm plantations in Indonesia (van Gelder et al, 2005: 44; Investor, 7-20
Nov. 2006: 16, 28-9; Trust, 11-17 Dec. 2006: 23).
Probably, the new Governor, a former freedom fighter, wants to return the favour
to Malaysia, for accommodating thousands of Acehnese refugees in the past, who have in
turn supported Aceh’s freedom fighters who carried out the guerilla war in the territory.
Or, Irwandy probably wants his former comrades in the Free Aceh movement to become
business players on the international scene, outbeating Aceh business people who
collaborated with the Soeharto family in destroying the Aceh forest cover with their oil
palm plantations, timber concessions, and paper and pulp factories, such as the families
of the late Ibrahim Hasan, Ibrahim Risyad, and Bustanil Arifin.
) Sime Darby Bhd, has supported the Malaysian Government’s offer to merge with Kumpulan
15
Guthrie Bhd and Golden Hope Plantations Bhd, to form an entity that would control six percent
of global palm‐oil production as the world’s top makers of the commodity, Indonesia and
Malaysian, compete for that position (The Jakarta Post, 22 December 2006).
21
GEOGRAPHICALLY and culturally, the people of Aceh can be differentiated
between the highlanders and the lowlanders. The highlanders are more popularly known
as the Gayo people, and their homeland around the Air Tawar Lake is known as Tanah
Gayo. The Gayo people are culturally closely linked with the Batak people of the North
Sumatera highlands, especially with the Batak Karo people. While the lowlanders, or
coastal people (orang pesisir) are more closely linked to the Malay people of North
Sumatera.
At the moment, there are three districts whose population are predominantly Gayo
people, namely Central Aceh with its capital at Takengon, on the shores of the Air Tawar
Lake, Bener Meriah with its capital in Janarata, and Gayo Lues with its capital in
Blangkeujeren. One of their most famous commodities is coffee, Gayo coffee, which has
put Gayo – and Aceh – on the world map, long before the oil and gas boom (or, long
before the Free Aceh Movement’s unilateral declaration of independence in December
1976).
All the three districts produce Gayo coffee, but the largest coffee farms in Aceh,
or, for that matter, in Indonesia, are in Central Aceh, with 46,286 hectares of coffee, and
4,000 hectares more planned by the Central Aceh Plantation Service, of which 2,000
hectares will be owned by smallholders, and 2,000 hectares owned by the government
(Teganing monthly, No. 44, January 2006, p. 8).
As mentioned earlier, Gayo coffee, or sometimes called, Aceh coffee, has been
known worldwide. The 2004 tsunami, which has also triggered a tidal wave of expatriates
to the country, has increased the interest in Gayo coffee, from the financial point of view.
Before the tsunami, Robert McNiece, a New Zealand coffee researcher from Lincoln
University in New Zealand, had began to undertake a study to develop the Gayo coffee
by setting up a coffee growing research institute in Central Aceh, which also offered
Ph.D. scholarships for Gayo students. McNiece himself had developed a strong affinity to
Gayo coffee, which, according to him, has been exported by a certain Aceh Company in
Jakarta as a mixture of 80% Gayo coffee and 20% coffee from the Toraja highlands in
South Sulawesi. He suggested that parts of the revenue of Gayo coffee export should be
submitted to UNICEF, to improve the education of the Acehnese coffee growers
(Teganing, No. 41, September 2005, p. 16).
The influx of expatriates to Aceh has triggered more capitalistic interests in Gayo
coffee. In the district of Bener Meriah, a company has been set up, called PT Gajah
Mountain Coffee (GMC), directed by a certain Mrs. Denys. The company may be a joint
venture between Indonesian and foreign interests, since the commissioner of this
company is a certain Ms. Yanti. This company has recently invited Lindsey Bolger, the
director of a US company, Green Mountain Coffee, to test the coffee produced by GMC.
GMC, in turn, seems to process and market the coffee grown by local farmers, organized
by a village cooperative, PUSKUD Pante Raya Wih (Harian Global, 10 April 2007). It is
still unclear, however, how this three-tier joint venture will work, and for whose benefit.
22
Coffee, however, is only one of the commodities attracting foreign interests to the
Gayo highlands, namely gold, as has been discussed earlier, and the hydropower potential
of the Peusangan River, which flows out from Lake Air Tawar. The local farmers have
been growing carps in fish cages, or karamba, for years, in the lake’s outlet into the river.
Recently, however, PLN, the National Electricity Corporation which plans to build the
Peusangan River hydropower plants, have ordered the farmers to remove their karamba,
since they want to “normalize” the hydropower plant’s water intake by straighten and
deepen the lake’s outlet. The farmers’ concern have been taken up by Jufriadi and his
colleagues from Puspa, local environmentalist group affiliated with the Aceh chapter of
WALHI. So did Jufriadi told the author during the author’s visit with Meulaboh-based
NGO workers last May.
It is still unclear, however, which company will be ordered to build the two step
Peusangan hydropower plant. A tug-of-war seems still to be dragging on between PLN
and the Vice President’s family Bukaka Group, which operates in Aceh and North
Sumatera through its subsidiary, PT Mega Power Mandiri.
Systemic corruption:
NOW, let us return to the way some groups have accumulated capital in a
corrupt way. Of those forms of corrupt capital accumulation, the most harmful form of
corruption is the systemic corruption of the Aceh and Nias reconstruction coordination
body, BRR NAD-Nias. As has been discussed before, this superbody has practically no
power to prohibit the use of harmful substances, such as asbestos, in thousands of
resettlement houses in Aceh. In fact, after issuing Memorandum No. M-
010/BRR.08/I/2007, prohibiting the use of asbestos, Andy Siswanto, a well-known
architect, town planner and lecturer at the Soegyapranata Catholic University in
Semarang, was fired from BRR NAD-Nias. This indicates that as the coordinating body,
which also functions as the regulator for all rehabilitation and reconstruction work in
Aceh and Nias, BRR NAD-Nias is protecting the business interests affiliated to the
Coordinating Minister for Social Welfare, Aburizal Bakrie, and business interests close to
President SBY himself.
This superbody employs 1,091 persons paid extremely high salaries, compared
to Indonesian civil servants and close to what top executives of private corporations
receive. This fact has been criticized by the national parliament’s special committee on
Aceh, which contrasted the high salaries with the poor quality of its achievements
(Serambi Indonesia, 10 April 2007). The poor quality of the houses built for tsunami
23
victims under BRR NAD-Nias has led to mass demonstrations of tsunami victims who
were still living in temporary barracks, who formed an inter-barrack communication
forum, or FORAK (Forum Komunikasi Antar Barak)(Serambi Indonesia, 10 April 2007).
Corruption by those NGOs, however, still dwarf the corruption associated with
BRR, as has been the findings of investigations carried out by the Indonesia Corruption
Watch (ICW). In a press conference on Thursday, 3 May 2007, ICW Deputy
Coordinator, Ridaya Laodengkower announced ICW’s findings, that from the more than
Rp 847 billion rehabilitation and reconstruction fund coordinated by BRR NAD-Nias,
about Rp 436 billion was spent in various corrupt ways. Such as, marked up prices and
the use of multiple contracts which also blew up the prices. Giving some examples.
Ridaya mentioned the building of 760 houses in Banda Aceh, 574 houses in West Aceh,
and 430 houses in Nagan Raya and South Aceh (MedanBisnis, 4 May 2007; Waspada, 5
May 2007).
24
How much reconstruction aid is enjoyed by the gampong people in
Aceh?
APART from being corrupted by BRR NAD-Nias’s network of staff and
contractors, the Acehnese people have not benefited as much as indicated by the budget
figures, since at least sixty percent of rehabilitation and reconstruction funds allocated for
Aceh has left the province each year. According to Nova Iriansyah from the Aceh
Construction Services Development Institute, or LPJK (Lembaga Pengembangan Jasa
Konstruksi) Aceh, about thirty trillion rupiah is cumulatively allocated from the national
budget, the provincial budget, and from BRR NAD-Nias. Of that amount, about twelve
trillion is allocated for actual reconstruction work. From that amount, only 4.8 trillion
rupiah, or fourty percent, is absorbed by the Aceh local economy, while 7.2 trillion
rupiah, or sixty percent, leaves the province again. As studied by LPJK Aceh, this reverse
flow of reconstruction aid to Aceh is caused by four factors. Firstly, it are mostly outside
contractors that won the project tenders; secondly, the construction work is often further
subcontracted to firms from outside Aceh; thirdly, most of the project workers come from
outside Aceh; and fourthly, most building material comes from outside Aceh (Serambi
Indonesia, 13 April 2007).
With only fourty percent of the reconstruction budget spent in Aceh, one cannot
expect much of trickling down effect to the local people of Aceh. This raises the
question: how much of the reconstruction aid for Aceh is trickling down to the ordinary
Acehnese people in the gampongs, the Acehnese villages? Or, to raise a more general
question, with all the trillions of rupiahs flowing into Aceh, how much will it help to raise
the standard of living of the rural Acehnese, who constitute the bulk of the population?
Oil palm estates, which seem to be the prima donna of forthcoming Malaysian
investments in Aceh, may not create many jobs in the war-torn province, since the
plantations will most likely bring their own workers from other places, just the
plantations in East Sumatra did in the past, by bringing in their contract workers, then
called coolies, from Java (see Lulofs 1982; Aulia 2006). Or, like plantations in other
parts of Sumatra have done more recently by bringing in workers from the island of Nias,
in North Sumatra.
In addition, as has happened in other places in Indonesia, oil palm estates have a
socio-economic and ecological displacement effect, since they replace coconuts and other
crops with which the local villagers are more familiar (see Van Gelder, Wakker, Schuring
and Haase 2005).
In the aftermath of the December 2004 tsunami, many survivors have not only
lost their houses, but also their land. Or, lost their land titles. Hence, in addition to
continuing the third phase of the Kecamatan Development Project, the World Bank has,
on 24 June 2005, allocated funds for recertifying the tsunami victims’ land, as well as
certifying the land for those who do not own land titles yet. This World Bank project is
managed through the Multi-Donor Fund for Aceh (MDFA), which has allocated US$
25
28.5 million for the Reconstruction of Aceh Land Administration (RALAS) project (Steer
& Breteche 2006; Daniel 2005; Pratomo 2005).
As Steer and Breteche put it, the funds are supposed to help the National Land
Agency, BPN [Badan Pertanahan Nasional] to recreate land records destroyed by the
tsunami, salvage those which can be, and build capacity for the creation of a new, modern
land records system. Under the project some 600,000 land parcels are to be titled, many
for the first time ever, since less than twenty percent of land owners in Aceh had legal
title prior to the tsunami. “This will enable citizens to use their land as collateral for
financing homes and businesses, and thereby unlock substantial dormant capital for
thousands of poor families struggling to rebuild their shattered lives,” as Steer and
Breteche put it.
How far has that project’s targets been achieved? Not very far. Nearly one
semester after the land certification project was approved, only 7,700 titles had been
distributed to tsunami survivors. Some 20,000 land titles were still lying ready for
distribution, all the paper work completed, yet they remain stuck in the system due to
simple administrative bottlenecks that could be resolved with decisive action (Steer and
Breteche 2006).
Actually, the fault does not lie entirely with the bureaucrats of the district land
office (Kantor Pertanahan), as field research in West Aceh, Aceh Jaya and Nagan Raya,
last May, complemented with interviews with RALAS officials in Banda Aceh have
shown. It also lies with the enormous task of identifying the prospective land title owners,
surveying their parameters, bringing the result to the district land office head, signing the
newly issued land certificates, and returning it to the rightful land owners.
The land certification program have been carried out so far in two stages, namely
RALAS 2005 (July 2005-June 2006) when ten Adjudication Teams were deployed in two
towns and districts, followed up by RALAS 2006 (July 2006-June 2007) with more
Adjudication Teams deployed to nine towns and districts. During
RALAS 2005 about 14,000 land certificates have been printed, while about 9,000 have
been handed over to the rightful land owners. While during RALAS 2006 until
November 2006, the boundaries and other physical data for 80,000 land parcels have
been identified, but only 1,000 land certificates have been handed over the rightful
owners.
As official reports at the West Aceh Land Office have shown, the return rate of
land parcels that had already been surveyed by nine adjudication teams from BPN has
been very low, as the following examples may show. In Arongan Lambalek subdistrict,
West Aceh, where 3,931 potential land certificates have been identified by BPN Team
XVIII, only 1,842 certificates have been produced and safely handed over to the rightful
land owners. While in Drien Rampak subdistrict, in the same district, from the 1,180
potential land certificates identified by BPN Team VIII, only 101 certificates had been
produced and delivered to the rightful land owners. So, from the total 20,748 potential
land certificate holders identified by nine BPN Teams from around Indonesia, by that
26
date, only less than a third number of certificates had been produced and delivered to the
rightful land owners, by 26 April 2007. This is what the head of the West Aceh Land
Office, Budi Yazir, who also overseas Aceh Jaya, reported to the higher levels of
government.
During the author’s interview with Budi Yazir in his office in Meulaboh, on 2
May 2007, the land officer explained the obstacles to the land certification process. First
of all, since RALAS is a national project, BPN has recruited thirty adjudication teams
from different local BPN offices in Indonesia to carry out the assessment of potential
receivers of the newly printed land certificates, as well as to distribute them to the rightful
owners. Consisting mainly of non-Acehnese BPN staff, local BPN staff who spoke the
local languages were inserted in each team, such as in the ten teams sent to West Aceh
and the two new districts split off from West Aceh, namely Aceh Jaya and Nagan Raya.
This identification process began in mid April 2007, with each team assigned to complete
distributing 5,000 new land certificates to the proper land and other property owners.
Apart from the difficulties of finding the rightful owner of each land parcel, the
certification project has also been accused of overlooking people who were real victims
of the tsunami, and those who were only victims of the earthquake. In other words, the
different categories of disaster victims had created among the people that some received
favorable treatment, and others were overlooked. While in Banda Aceh, collusion
between local BPN officials and other government officials and certain BRR NAD-Nias
have enabled some people to pool a great number of land certificates among themselves.
This form of corruption of RALAS funds has been identified by Banda Aceh-based pro-
democracy activists assisting the author of this report.
At any rate, one large refugee barrack at Cot Beuloh in Arongan Lambalek, the
sub-district with the highest number of certificate receivers, was certainly not one of the
lucky ones. Fitriani, a former member of GAM’s guerilla army, TNA, still lives in the
refugee barrack with her second husband. After the Helsinki peace agreement, she and
her former husband, Alex, a regional GAM commander, surrendered their weapons, and,
unfortunately, they separated after Alex fell in love with another woman. Fitriani then
married the brother of a former guerilla fighter in her platoon, who was killed by
Indonesian soldiers after he surrendered, before the Helsinki peace agreement. Her
husband comes from a coastal village which had been badly hit by the tsunami. Yet, he
27
has not received a certificate for his land, from where he regularly harvest his coconut to
feed his family, which has not received rice ransom anymore. The couple have been
promised a new resettlement house, with a much smaller plot of land. Unfortunately,
while the new house was promised to be finished in March 2007, two months later it was
not yet finished. So, they still have to live in the crowded refugee barrack, which land
was flooded during the rain, when the author of this report visited it in early May 2007.
Another unfortunate Acehnese is Zainal Abidin and his mother, Nurliyah, who
had fled from Beutong Ateuh to Meulaboh after the military attacked the dayah which his
father had founded (see Attachment 1), but then had the 2004 tsunami damaged their
Meulaboh dwelling. Although they have moved back to their home village, they still
asked the government to provide certificates for their dwellings in the town of Meulaboh,
which is currently inhabited by their relatives.
However, the chances of losing out from the more aggressive and experienced
outsiders would easily squeeze the local citizens out of business and in the process lose
their land, whenever they could not repay their loans, as mentioned before. Hence, pro-
democracy movement activists in Aceh fear that the banks that provide the loans to the
small land owners could also provide certified land parcels to other customers, including
those who want to set up their businesses in Aceh.
So, before all this could happen, a broader training program to develop local
villagers’ business skills should precede the land certification project, preceded by a
thorough research into the Acehnese people’s customary agrarian system. Without these
two preceding activities, the land certification project would not become a blessing, but
rather, a curse for the ordinary gampong people.
While on land many gampong people have lost their land or land titles, and
many more may lose whatever land they still have to the large mining and oil palm
28
plantations, the situation on the east coast of Aceh is not much rosier. Hundreds of
fisherfolks along the coast of Bireuen, Pidie, North Aceh, and East Aceh have lost their
fishing nets and rumpon, traditional fish attracting device, which have been destroyed by
seismic tests carried out by PT PGS Nusantara, which is exploring the offshore oil and
gas deposits along Aceh’s east coast, using a seismic exploration boat.
Those seismic activities were carried out without prior and proper consultation
with the district government and the Panglima Laot, the semi-traditional organizations of
artisanal Acehnese fisherfolks, in each district. As a result, the fisherfolks claimed losses
in their catch of up to Rp 20 billion, including Rp 13.3 billion in Bireuen and Rp 7 billion
in East Aceh. Ironically, most of the more than 200 rumpon and nets destroyed by the
seismic exploration activities were donated by the Indonesian and Italian governments
(acehkita.com, 21 Febr. 2007).
What has been kept out from the local media’s eyes, is the large economic
interests behind those seismic exploration activities. It is most likely, that Arifin
Panigoro’s Medco Group are the one financing PT PGS Nusantara’s exploration
activities, since those offshore oil and gas potentials are part of the Langsa Block, which
has been allocated by the Indonesian Government to Medco’s joint venture with Mitsui
Oil Exploration Company from Japan, as has been discussed earlier in this paper.
Therefore, as in the case of the Lapindo mud disaster in East Java, the fisherfolks of
Aceh’s eastern coast should also raise their compensation demand to Medco and Mitsui,
and not only to PT PGS Nusantara, which may claim that they are only carrying out the
orders of the two oil giants.
What we have seen so far is only the ecological impact of seismic testing for oil
and gas deposits offshore Aceh’s east coast. But more is in store in the very near future.
With Medco’s plans to explore and drill the A Block near Lhokseumawe, and considering
the fact that other companies may soon follow suit, such as PT Pacific Oil & Gas, which
has obtained permits to explore the oil and gas deposits around Peureulak (Koran Tempo,
26 April 2007: B2), farmers and fisherfolks need to be alerted and organized to defend
their social and ecological rights as well.
29
Conclusion:
THE rehabilitation and reconstruction of Aceh and Nias which involves trillions
of rupiahs have benefited two major groups, while marginalizing many tsunami and
earthquake victims, local farmers, fisherfolks, and other rural Acehnese. Firstly, the
rehabilitation and reconstruction funds have benefited many old business groups close to
Indonesia’s ruling elite, such as the Media Group of Surya Paloh. Secondly, these funds
have benefited new business groups which have been set up by former commanders of
TNA, the guerilla army of the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), most prominently among
them the Pulo Gadeng Group of former TNA commander, Muzakkir Manaf. Meanwhile,
many TNA foot soldiers are still living in poverty, jobless and without receiving houses
and other forms of assistance from the Aceh and Nias Reconstruction Coordinating Body,
BRR NAD-Nias.
There are two reasons why the trillions of rupiahs or billions of US dollars have
not improved the socio-economic well-being of many local Acehnese. These reasons are
firstly, the fact that the lion share of the development funds are daily flowing out of Aceh,
and secondly, the high degree of corruption among BRR NAD-Nias as well as among the
large foreign NGOs operating in Aceh.
30
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Curriculum Vitae of the Researcher
Citizenship: Indonesian
Gender: Male
Current Location: Yogyakarta, Indonesia
Present Position: Guest Lecturer at Religious and Cultural Studies
of the Post Graduate Programme at the
Sanata Darma University in Yogyakarta,
Indonesia;
Consultant and Trainer in Research Methodology
Workshops for non-government organizations in North
Sumatra and the Department of Religion R & D Institution
in South Sulawesi.
Education background:
20 January 1993: Philosophical Doctor (Ph.D.), Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y.; thesis
on public policy education concerning the social and environmental impact of the
Kedungombo multipurpose dam in C. Java.
Work Experience:
1. Since Semester I 2007, teaches Marxism and Social Movements at courses of the
Pancasila Study Center of the Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta, Indonesia.
33
3. Since Semester II 2005, involved in teaching Marxism, New Social Movements,
and Research Methodology in the Postgraduate Program of the Sanata Dharma
University in Yogyakarta, Indonesia.
Works published:
Hundreds of books, chapters, introductions, prologues and epilogues on East Timor, West
Papua, Aceh, North Sumatera, Maluku, Sulawesi, Kalimantan; environmental affairs,
especially the environmental impact of mining and huge infrastructure projects; new
social movements; and presidential corruption in Indonesia since Soeharto, published in
Indonesia and overseas.
Most recent book: Korupsi Kepresidenan: Reproduksi Oligarki Berkaki Tiga: Istana,
Tangsi dan Partai Penguasa [Presidential Corruption in Indonesia: Reproduction of the
Three-Legged Oligarchy, the Palace, the Barracks, and the Ruling Party], Yogyakarta:
LKiS, 500 pp, launched on 24 May 2006.
34