The Supreme Court’s decision on the lawsuit by residents of Sangihe Island and Bangka Island should be a milestone and jurisprudence to free small islands in Indonesia from mining activities

The long way of the Sangihe residents struggle on saving the small island from the onslaught of the mining industry is paid off. On January 12, 2023, residents’ resistance through a legal process won at the Supreme Court of the Republic of Indonesia.

In the ruling of the Supreme Court Judges, the Cassation-level lawsuit in the Supreme Court against the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources and PT. Tambang Mas Sangihe/TMS as the Intervenor Defendant, stated that it REJECTED the efforts to resist the Cassation of the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources of the Republic of Indonesia and PT. TMS, by granting the lawsuit of the residents of Sangihe Island, which had previously won at the appeal level at the Jakarta High Administrative Court (PTTUN).

Through this cassation decision, the Supreme Court Judges reaffirmed the decision at the Jakarta High Administrative Court which was won by the residents, namely Granting the Plaintiffs’ Lawsuit in Its Entirety, Granting the Application for Postponement of Implementation and Declaring Cancellation of the Ministerial Decree of the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Number 163.K / MB.04 / DJB / 2021 dated January 29, 2021 concerning Approval for Increasing the Stage of Production Operation Activities of PT. TMS, and requires the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources of the Republic of Indonesia to revoke the Decree[i].

Referring to the two legal rulings, the existence of PT. TMS on Sangihe Island no longer has legal legitimacy, considering that business licensing in the form of a Contract of Work (KK) is not in accordance with the Mining Law 4/2009 or the results of the revision of the Mining Law 3/2020. Thus, the government must immediately revoke PT TMS’s mining license, along with all company activities to be stopped, and carry out strict legal enforcement of all environmental and humanitarian crimes committed.

Supreme Court Ruling: A Jurisprudence in Saving Small Islands

From our perspective, the Supreme Court’s ruling above should be a milestone and jurisprudence to liberate small islands in Indonesia from mining activities. Moreover, long before the legal ruling on the dispute between Sangihe residents and TMS came out, the Supreme Court had also made the same legal ruling, over a lawsuit by residents of the small island of Bangka in North Minahasa, North Sulawesi against PT Mikgro Metal Perdana (MMP) from China.

At that time, the lawsuits of the residents of Bangka island won successively, starting from the Decision of the State Administrative Court Number 211/G/2014/PTUN-JKT on July 14, 2015, the State Administrative High Court on 14 December 2015, to the Supreme Court Decision Number 255K/TUN/2016 dated 11 Agustus 2016[ii] .

The victory of the residents was followed up by the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources at that time, Ignasius Jonan, by revoking the IUP of PT MMP through the Decree of the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources of the Republic of Indonesia Number: 1361 K / 30 / MEM / 2017 concerning the Revocation of the Decree of the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Number 3109 K / 30 / MEM / 2014 dated July 17, 2014 concerning the Mining Business License for Production Operations of PT Mikgro Metal Perdana.

One of the important considerations of the judges’ decision on these two cases is about the use of small islands and their waters that are not prioritized for mining. One of them is contained in Law No. 27 of 2007 concerning the Management of Coastal Areas and Small Islands which has been updated with Law No. 1 of 2014[iii].

Thus, we urge the government,  especially the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, to not only have to immediately revoke PT TMS’s mining permits, but also to immediately evaluate and revoke all mining permits on Indonesia’s small islands.

This is urgent, considering that based on JATAM’s research in 2017, there are 55 small Indonesian islands, most of which are densely populated, are being ravaged by the mining, oil and gas industries. On these tiny islands, there are about 164 mining business licenses[iv].

Some of them are, for example, Wawonii Island in Southeast Sulawesi which is being demolished by PT Gema Kreasi Perdana / GKP (Harita Group) and Gag Island in West Papua where the entire island area is occupied by PT Gag Nikel. Likewise with other small islands, such as Gebe, Pakal, and Gee Islands in North Maluku, as well as small islands around Bangka Belitung that were looted by tin mining.

Therefore, the legal ruling on the lawsuit of the residents of Sangihe Island and Bangka Island should be a reference for the government, to prioritize the safety of the island and the future of residents whose economy is mostly dependent on the sea.

By allowing and/or opening mining investment space on small islands, as is currently the case, is an act of crimes against humanity and the environment that must be resisted by all islanders throughout Indonesia.

 

Contact Person:

Muh Jamil – Head of JATAM Legal Division/SSI Legal Team – +62 821-5647-0477

Jan Rafles – Save Sangihe Island Coordinator (SSI) – +62 823-4862-1456

Jull Takaliuang – Director of Suara Nurani Minaesa Foundation/SSI Activist – +62 811-4357-722