Those Arrive and Those Worried About Being Marginalized
Jumiran was ready to watch the entourage of the President and governors and representatives from the 34 provinces.
By
Dionisius Reynaldo Triwibowo / Sucipto
·6 minutes read
BIRO ADPIM PEMPROV KALSEL
The screenshot of the video when the Governor of South Kalimantan Sahbirin Noor (right) handed over land and water to President Joko Widodo at the Zero Kilometer Point of the Indonesian Capital City in Sepaku District, North Panajam Paser, East Kalimantan, Monday (14/3/2022).
On Monday (14/3/2022), President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, a number of ministers as well as 34 governors or representatives from each province were present in Sepaku, North Penajam Paser, East Kalimantan, the nation’s future capital city. Each brought soil and water from their region. The governors of Kalimantan provinces camped with the President.
Jumiran (74) was wearing his best and only batik early in the morning. He wanted to see first-hand the ground zero of the State Capital City (IKN) Nusantara. Having lived in the Sepaku subdistrict since 1984, he had never entered the ground zero area, controlled more strictly after the industrial forest plantation company took control of the area.
He had come alone. His five children were doing odd jobs. His wife could no longer walk far. He had planned to walk the 5 kilometers to the IKN gate, but his rheumatism relapsed, so he stood among the students of SDN Sepaku 020 in Bumi Harapan Village, 5 kilometers from the gate.
Jumiran was ready to watch the entourage of the President and governors and representatives from the 34 provinces. "In all my life, this is the first time I can see the President directly. [It happens] because the capital city is about to be relocated here. Now he comes with all the governors. Never before," he said.
Jumiran stood up when the siren sounded. The entourage arrived and he waved at the President as the group passed. Then he went home, changing his batik to a t-shirt.
Slowly but surely, the forest turned into a rice field.
When Jumiran arrived in Sepaku from Nganjuk, East Java, the area was still a wild forest. He, his wife and four children almost gave up because they kept failing to plant rice. The government's rice assistance helped them survive. Slowly but surely, the forest turned into a rice field.
At the entrance gate to the IKN Nusantara, Sunardi (42) said he had no regrets about transmigrating to Sepaku, where he was now enjoying the outcome. He has built a house and sends his children to school by cultivating oil palm. But in the midst of his joy at the relocation of the capital city, he started to worry.
"We are worried that our land will have to be released for the IKN. I don't want to [sell it]. I also want to feel the bustle of the capital city. [I want to explore] what kind of businesses I can run later. This land is my struggle,” said the transmigrant from Central Java.
Land and water
The ceremony, which brought emotion and enthusiasm to those present, was marked by the unification of land and water from 34 provinces. President Jokowi did this at the start of the development of the nation's new capital city. An act that has never been done in a state ceremony.
KOMPAS
President Joko Widodo and the governors are in the Kilometer Zero Point Area for the Capital of the Archipelago (IKN) in North Penajam Paser Regency, East Kalimantan Province, on Monday, March 14, 2022.
"Today, we are here together [in a show of commitment] for the purpose and the work that will soon begin – that is the development of the Nusantara capital city," said the President.
The soil was put into a Nusantara jug that had been prepared at ground zero.
One by one, officials handed over their soil, encased in jugs that symbolized the local culture of their respective region. There were gold-plated jug, jug made of coconut leaves, jug from woven rattan and others, all were beautiful.
Eight kilometers from ground zero, Saryadi (71), who has lived in Sepaku since 1980, also voiced his dismay. His house and farmland were in danger of being cleared. There was a sign that read "do not damage" around the central government area. He did not understand what it meant.
“I'm so glad the capital will be relocated here, it's like a dream. However, as the [development project] is approaching, I am so worried. Hopefully I won't be relocated," said the grandfather from Banyuwangi, East Java.
Similar to Saryadi, Radimin (63) could only watch the President arriving at ground zero of the IKN in a car with a license plate that read "Indonesia". The resident of Bumi Harapan Village hoped that the IKN development would have a positive impact on local residents. Since the transmigration program in the 1970s, he and his family could only collect rainwater for bathing and sanitation.
“If there is no rain, [I have to] buy water for Rp 60,000 [US$4.19] per container for bathing and cleaning. In a month, you can spend up to Rp 240,000 to buy water. Hopefully the clean water for the capital city will also be available for us," he said.
Alfian (33), a descendant of the Paser Balik Dayak, feels a lot about the land, where he lives. He lives on the border with a logging company. The habit of cultivating the land shifted after the company arrived.
“Since 2009, people in the village have not planted padi gunung [dry-land rice]. People used to move from one area of farmland to another. To open new land, you have to do small-scale burning of the land. [Now,] timber companies forbid us to burn them,” said Alfian.
A number of residents were arrested by the company's security personnel for clearing land by burning, yet according to the Paser Balik tradition, burning land cannot be reckless. People are not allowed to burn land as broadly as they want. The area for burning is limited. It never triggered forest fires.
The Dayak Basua tribe, if they moved from one place to another, would take water from the original place to be poured into the river in a new place so that it became one.
A Dayak anthropologist from Mulawarman University who is also a leader of the Dayak community in East Kalimantan, Simon Devung, said uniting land and water into a new place was a Dayak tradition. The Dayak Basua tribe, if they moved from one place to another, would take water from the original place to be poured into the river in a new place so that it became one. So is the same with the land.
Nomadic life, continued Simon, had often been practiced by the Dayak and other local people in Indonesia. Like the Dayak Paser Balik, the natives of Balikpapan City often relocated to follow their source of life, namely the land and fields or the water.
Another factor is disruption. The Dayak community could not live long in Balikpapan because they could not adapt to the way of life of the coastal people. They then moved away from the coast of Balikpapan. The arrival of transmigrants was also a reason they relocated.
KOMPAS
Governors from all over Indonesia were present with President Joko Widodo in a procession at the Kilometer Zero Point Area, the Capital of the Archipelago, Monday (14/3/2022).
According to Simon, relocating local residents to new places was an almost unavoidable consequence of the new capital city development. What the government could do was prepare local residents to adapt to all future changes. Otherwise, they would be eliminated and lose to the development of the new city.
Local residents around the new capital city, both transmigrants and Dayak natives, do not want to relocate again and get lost. They pray that the development of the new capital city brings prosperity, not new problems.
