Country:

Indonesia

Region:

Asia

Date:

August 9, 2017 - March 31, 2018

Implementor:

Yayasan Lembaga Bantuan Hukum Indonesia

Funding Amount:

$59,718

Details:

This SRM-funded initiative helped to create a conducive environment to ensure the rule of law and use this conflict as a symbolic case to address key problems of collusion of interests and weak law enforcement. As a result of SRM funding, LBH provided legal support to Kendeng community members facing criminalization; developed a counter narrative using evidence of PT Semen Indonesia’s social and environmental impacts, combined with information on the company’s influence on political elites, media, and within universities; supported communities’ mobilization; and facilitated advocacy initiatives by the community regarding their rights.

This initiative provided strategic support to the Kendeng Communities in their struggle against the construction of a cement factory by PT Semen Indonesia in Rembang, Central Java. Despite support from President Joko Widodo and a Supreme Court ruling to revoke the license of the cement company, the Central Java Governor issued a new license allowing PT Semen Indonesia to extract limestone and clay from the mountains of North Kendeng, whose water people depend on for their livelihood. SRM funding helped protect the communities in their legal fight for their rights.