Women of Rembang put their feet down to save farms from cement factory

It was a confronting image: nine middle-aged women with their feet planted in blocks of concrete staging a 36-hour protest outside the presidential palace in Jakarta.

The women of Rembang during their protest outside the presidential palace in Jakarta. Photo: Supplied

The Semen Indonesia cement factory under construction in Central Java. Photo: Amilia Rosa

Farmers from Tegaldowo village in Rembang harvesting their crops. Photo: Amilia Rosa

Tegaldowo villagers at their tent vigil. The big sign reads: "Struggle Tent. Reject the cement factory." Photo: Amilia Rosa

The Tegaldowo protesters from left: Sukinah, Sutini Karsupi, Murtini and Joko Prianto. Photo: Amilia Rosa

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Rembang: It was a confronting image: nine middle-aged women with their feet planted in blocks of concrete staging a 36-hour protest outside the presidential palace in Jakarta.

In other circumstances it might have been a PR stunt, but to the farmers from Rembang in Central Java, some of whom sold chickens to bankroll the trip to the capital, it was an apt metaphor for their plight.

"No one was coaching us during that Jakarta trip," says Sukinah, a 40-year-old rice farmer from the village of Tegaldowo. "We were desperate, we see no other way. We need people to hear us."

The women have been protesting against a new cement factory near Rembang since the groundbreaking ceremony on July 16, 2014.

"We won't be able to freely farm, because the mines will ruin our water source, the factory will pollute our village," Mrs Sukinah says.

For almost two years they have staged a vigil in a tent on the cement factory site: "Around 15 to 20 people every day. During harvest time less than 10."

But their protest garnered little attention until the women plunged their feet into blocks of cement in Jakarta.

"We all agreed that shackling our feet with cement is the best way to describe our condition," Mrs Sukinah says.

The media have dubbed the women "the Kartinis of Rembang", after Indonesia's first feminist Raden Adjeng Kartini, who was also born in Rembang.

It is no accident that the protesters are all females.

"The reason us women fight in the front is not because the men were afraid," Mrs Sukinah says. "But we are more compassionate, we fight with love. If the men stayed in the front it might turn physical and we don't want casualties. Men are more emotional, they will turn physical when provoked."

In 2008 Semen Indonesia, the country's largest cement producer, first announced plans to build a factory in Sukolilo in the neighbouring Pati regency. It is slated to begin operating next year.

The factory has divided the community. It will provide thousands of jobs and former Central Java governor Bibit Waluyo said it would enable the construction of better roads in the province.

"I am separated from my wife because she doesn't like me opposing the cement factory," says Joko Prianto, a member of the Community Network for the Care of Kendeng Mountains.

Thousands of tonnes of limestone will be quarried from the Kendeng mountain range, which stretches from Central Java to East Java.

This is a karst region, a geological term for an area characterised by underground caves and springs. It is the main water source for farming communities living in the surrounding area.

Eko Teguh Paripurno, the head of the Centre for Disaster Management at private university UPN Veteran Yogyakarta, said a study by university students earlier this year had found underground water sources in the area where the cement factory will mine.

"A mine will destroy the ability to absorb water, in turn it will empty any pockets of water underground and damage underground river flows," he says. "Eventually it will dry out the water source."

But Semen Indonesia's corporate secretary Agung Wiharto says an independent environmental impact assessment gave the factory a pass. Anyone is welcome to visit the factory and access its records of pollution levels.

"For me, it's a personal commitment," Mr Agung says. "If we commit a fatal mistake I will resign as corporate secretary. I will not provide for my family by working in a company that destroys the environment."

Semen Indonesia has poured billions of rupiah into corporate social responsibility programs, partnering with the local community to provide health and education services.

"We built cafeterias for the local ladies to manage," Mr Agung says. "There are about 3500 staff working on the construction of the factory, 40 per cent of them from (local) villages. After we train them to work as electricians, welders and construction workers. We train them to recruit them when the project starts."

The fact is, Mr Agung says, there are also people in Rembang who want the cement factory: "Shouldn't their voices be heard too?"

But the protesters are not backing down. They threw off their concrete shackles only after being promised an audience with Indonesian President Joko Widodo in coming days.

"We are continuously being intimidated," Mrs Sukinah says. "Rumours say we will be kidnapped by intelligence officers, we will be killed, we will disappear and so on. I said I am not afraid, we don't live in the Suharto era anymore. We will continue fighting, we will never stop."

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The story Women of Rembang put their feet down to save farms from cement factory first appeared on The Sydney Morning Herald.

Source: Women of Rembang put their feet down to save farms from cement factory