Contested participation in environmental impact assessment : the case of PT Semen Indonesia in Kendeng Mountain, Central Java, Indonesia

Abstract

In the early stages (2006-2016) in Rembang, Central Java, Indonesia, PT Semen Indonesia manipulated the EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment) through regulatory formalities. After the Supreme Court (2016-present), the Central Java Government seemed more courageous in creating preferential norms, namely environmental permits with super fast EIA production (less than four months). The purpose of this study was to examine the EIA process of PT Semen Indonesia in 2017. The aim of this research was to investigate the neglection of public participation rights on the contestation of EIA production. This study's objectives were to (1) discover the power and inequality between Community and PT Semen Indonesia related to the manipulative participation in the production of the 2017 EIA; (2) discover the anti-cement strategies from the Samin Community and State response to the anti-cement movement. This study was qualitative research with a case study approach. The populations were Samin Community and Kendeng Community in Gunem and Bulu sub-district, Central Java, Indonesia. The sample was selected using purposive sampling. The instruments used were documentation, interview, direct observation, and physical artifact. Data were collected and analyzed using multiple data sources triangulation, integrating multiple data sources into coherent evidence and content analysis. This research found that (1) The right to public participation has been violated during EIA production by PT Semen Indonesia, the EIA Appraisal Commission, and the State; (2) The anti-cement strategies built by Samin Community were lawsuit on the environmental permit; traditional wisdom and farming daily resistant; strengthen network and support, and criticism of spatial planning in the Kendeng mountains. The results concluded that the Kendeng community could not obtain clear and transparent information through the EIA Environmental Law Regime. The state response through the central government and the Central Java government strengthens the existence and strategy of PT Semen Indonesia. The state has supported the existence of State-Owned Enterprises, the discourse of an independent commission for EIA Apprisal and government that looks responsive and impartial but does not solve the problems and demands of the Kendeng community.