Fauzi Ibrahim, Jakarta – Dozens of Rempang, Batam residents staged a protest outside the Chinese Embassy in Jakarta on Wednesday, August 14, to voice their opposition to the Rempang Eco-City National Strategic Project (PSN). The community insists that they can thrive without the project, relying on local resources, such as agriculture and fishing.
"We are still prosperous from our land's produce, even without this project," declared a resident during the protest.
The community, he stressed, vowed to continue opposing the Rempang Eco-City PSN in all its forms. "We will continue to reject it in any form," he said.
Civil society organizations, including the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi), the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras), and the Agrarian Reform Consortium (KPA), joined the protest, urging the Chinese government to refrain from investing in the project.
"We urge the Chinese Embassy not to fund a project that will harm the Rempang community and the environment, where the Rempang indigenous people exist," said Uli Arta Siagian, the Manager of the Forest and Garden Campaign of WALHI, in his speech today.