Batam – Residents of Rempang Island from the Sembulang Village in Galang district, Batam City, Riau Islands, remain steadfast in protecting their village from the Rempang Eco City National Strategic Project (PSN).
According to one of the residents of Sembulang Village at Red Beach, Sairon, they will defend their village that was built by their ancestors. The residents will not simply surrender their land to be used for the Eco City project.
"For us, the village is the history of our ancestors, we don't want it to disappear just like that, our ancestors before, how they struggled to build our ancestral villages, it's inconceivable that we must surrender it so easily", Sairon told CNN Indonesia on Monday September 9.
He added that their extended family at Red Beach Sembulang has chosen to remain and continue to refuse to be relocated to Tanjung Banon to make way for the Eco City project.
According to Sairon, most of the residents who have already moved to the relocation area at Tanjung Banon are state civil servants (ASN) and migrants.
Meanwhile, for the indigenous people of Red Beach Sembulang Village there are still many who are standing firm, adding that the Batam Free Trade Zone Authority (BP Batam) which is managing the project, does not want to contest the data with residents.
"If the indigenous Sembulang residents could be counted, the data on residents who still remain is 80 percent and those who have already moved 20 percent. I know this very well, BP Batam doesn't want to contest the data, they're totally silent", said Sairon.
A resident of Sembulang Hulu Village, Sukri, also emphasised that he and his extended family continue to refuse to being relocated.
Sukri also believes that Rempang Eco City project has had a negative impact on residents, especially on fisher people's catches in the sea and residents' agricultural cultivation.
"The rejection is nonnegotiable. All the families strongly refuse. Because of the love of the villages inherited from our ancestors. The adverse impact for us has been huge, particularly for farmers and fisher people", he told CNN Indonesia.
He claimed that only three family heads (KK, a household) in Sembulang Hulu Village have agreed to the relocation.
But those who have agreed to be relocated have not been able to occupy the new houses in Tanjung Banon because they are not yet finished.
According to Sukri, out of the three households, one is an ASN, one is a Sembulang Hulu resident who lives in Monggak and one is a Sembulang Hulu native who lives in Batam City.
"Only two households who are Sembulang Hulu natives, the one other resident is a migrant. A PNS [state civil servant] who has a house in Batam", he said.
BP Batam speaks out
BP Batam public relations division head Sazani said that the plan to relocate the residents to the new accommodation will take place on September 25.
This is different from what was conveyed by the Secretary of the Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs (Sesmenko), Susiwijono Moegiarso, who claimed that the relocation began on September 1, 2024.
"In the initial stage, we will move three KK to their new homes. These three KK are those who were the first to shift to temporary accommodation in September 2023", Sazani said in a written statement.
Sazani said that the transfer of residents affected by Eco City project is being carried out in stages. He also denied information suggesting that the planned transfer of residents to the new residences has failed miserably.
He said that work on the new residences in Tanjung Banon has been constrained by weather, but the work is still proceeding and is ongoing.
"Indeed, It must be admitted, the work on the houses in Tanjung Banon has been somewhat constrained by the weather factor. However, the whole process continues. Hopefully the transfer stage of other residents who are currently in temporary accommodation can be completed by the end of September", he said.
Furthermore, he said that BP Batam continues to monitor the work on around 60 new housing units in Tanjung Banon. According to Sazani, the contractor has been asked to immediately finish 20 of the housing units by mid-September.
Earlier, Moegiarso said that the relocation of the Rempang Island residents would take place on September 1. "The relocations in Rempang are already underway, right, starting on September 1 some have already moved. It's in stages, right, until the end of the year perhaps", he said in Bantam on August 26.
Furthermore, he said, the transfer of the residents will be done until the end of 2024. According to Moegiarso, there are 350 residents who will be moved to the new location. (arp/DAL)
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was " Warga Pulau Rempang Kukuh Tolak Relokasi Imbas PSN Eco City".]
