I visited Rembang Island for the first time in the summer of 2022. I was greeted by green fields of coconut and banana trees, fishing villages whose houses were thrown into the water on stilts, and boats transporting people between dozens of islands in the Riau archipelago. . . Western Indonesia. I took a pleasant one-hour ferry ride from Singapore, full of glass and chrome. It seemed like another world.
My host (an environmental advocate and local Malaysian community organizer) and I came to Rembang from the Batam Special Manufacturing, Trade and Logistics Zone, the economic center of the Riau Islands province. We went from Batam to Rembang and crossed one of the six metal bridges that connect Batam, Rembang and Galang islands. A network of bridges transformed these islands into an economic district, now called the Barelang Region.
My ongoing research examines how the international quest for green energy depends on "victim zones" in developing countries. Far from creating a Green New Deal for all, the green energy transition actually reinforces inequalities and entrenched hierarchies.
I became interested in Rembang when I saw the news announcing the revolution of renewable energy. Companies from Singapore, Portugal and elsewhere are signing contracts to build giant floating solar parks on local reservoirs in the Batam area. The plan was to transport clean energy from the sunny islands of Batam, Bulan and Rembang in western Indonesia to Singapore via an undersea cable.
But after arriving on the islands and visiting the places mentioned in the news, I saw no sign of green energy activity. The water was calm. There was no solar park in sight. I ignored it, met friends, ate fresh seafood at a small Keelung restaurant, half on land, half at sea, and then took the ferry back to Singapore.
"The land was seized with the support of the state"
A year later, my return was very different. The atmosphere was tense, the streets were full of armed police. Large military trucks controlled the situation and escaped from the scene. Villagers gathered in groups, alarmed and surprised by the threads of information leaked via WhatsApp that appeared to be state-sponsored land grabs.
As Rembang's 16 villages and their 7,500 residents are evacuated, people protest with plans to convert their homes into the latest hub of accelerating global green transformation. The Indonesian government and a Chinese-backed business consortium want to relocate the entire community to another island and turn their homes into a giant solar panel production center, solar park and "green spaces".
Videos filmed by residents of protest sites show clashes between armed soldiers and police between farmers and fishermen in Rembang. In the videos, some of which have been shared on social media, people are seen lying on the ground, covered in blood and being abused by state forces. There were many arrests. I often hear from friends and acquaintances that the police and government authorities have begun subpoenaing suspected protesters, searching their phones for incriminating evidence, investigating their homes, work lives and tax affairs. Neighbors explain that it is an "invasion" and "pressure" to surrender territories and withdraw from the fighting.
In addition to the widespread social conflicts, residents of Rembang resist the daily encroachment of the proposed project. In the affected villages, local opposition spontaneously blocked roads to prevent government officials from entering the villages to inspect their land, including women, including mothers and grandmothers wearing headscarves. In the videos, they are seen crying as armed police approach. In other cases, you can see half-conscious girls and old women being taken to the hospital after being exposed to tear gas.
So how did things happen so quickly? As of April 2023, the Jakarta businessman, who reportedly made money and fame through companies working on behalf of the Indonesian military before moving into banking and real estate, is rumored to be planning to build a "city." . ". "For noise.
In August, better informed community members learned that the planned Rembang project would be a collaboration between Tommy Uinata's artha graha group and a Chinese "glass master". In September, Vinata herself gave interviews and talked about her environmental projects. With the enthusiastic support of Batam Economic Zone Authority, Riau Islands Provincial Government and the Central Jakarta Government, the project is just around the corner.
It will relocate 16 villages on Rembang Island and cover 17,000 hectares (one hectare is roughly the size of a rugby field). When the neighbors discussed these numbers among themselves, they asked me: "Why do you need so much land?" and "What are they going to do with it?"
One soft-spoken elderly fisherman I spoke to in August, who is still trying to organize resistance to Jakarta and shadowy Chinese investment, said he worries the community is being relocated;
"The people here have a history, the whole history is in this area, they love this country, they live here, you can do your project here, come, but build on the land, whatever you do, don't do not disturb us"... Keep us here, give work to our children... If you ask me where your village is, I cry and say, what can I say, our identity is lost."
From news channels to violence
When they first heard about the Rembang project, residents submitted applications to various levels of government, requested meetings and even traveled to Jakarta to meet with officials. Because of their sensitivity, people thought of going into the streets.
In mid-August, the groups met in local cafes and the homes of community leaders. They were determined not to give up their land. This was told to me by a member of the group who met in Batam. "There is a meeting of Malay youth to plan a protest near the Barelang Bridge and [Batamda] City Hall. We are here to discuss the situation. Protests in the coming days."
In the last week of August, community and civil society organizations in Jakarta organized demonstrations in various locations in Rembang and Batam. My contacts soon spoke of "clashes between the local community and BP Batam" (the body responsible for the Batam Free Trade Zone) and increasing protests involving not only Rembang residents but also ethnic Malays from the surrounding islands. At these first demonstrations, police forces were involved and there was tension, but no violence.
Despite the growing opposition, the authorities judged the public protest as a "lack of communication". As reported in the press, the increasingly angry residents turned to violence, using stones and bottles. These were the desperate measures of the people who were increasingly desperate for state power.
The local and international media, which initially ignored the Rembang case, eventually covered it amidst the growing "unrest" in Rembang.
Recently, a young Malay sent me a WhatsApp message: "I was called to the police station for questioning... In the process of investigation [for a few hours] [I went to jail from the site people."
Ecocity and mass production of solar panels
Meanwhile, preparations for the development of the Rembang area continued smoothly. Apparently, Indonesia's PT Makmur Elok Graha (PT MEG), which became part of the Artha Graha Group in 2004, received permission from the Batam Provincial People's Council to develop Rempang. There was a time when the mutual understanding referred to a 5000 hectare tourism area. In this plan, existing cities were to be preserved.
No agreement has been reached with PT MEG until 2023. In early 2023, PT MEG representatives visited the homes of prominent local residents in Rembang and indicated their intentions to inspect the land. According to a local businessman and community leader, the company did not tell him what to build. However, some from nearby towns say they were told about the search for the glass factory, and others were told about the hotel.
Now, in October 2023, official plans from companies and governments reveal more development than was proposed in 2004. "Rembang Eco-City" will be an industrial, service and tourism zone as envisioned in the National Strategic Plan (NSP). In 2023. It is a joint venture between BP Batam (including Free Trade Zone and Free Port Management Agency) and PT MEG. The plan aims to attract approximately IDR 381 trillion worth of investments by 2080 and create jobs for 30,000 workers. This is equivalent to around $24.8 billion or £20 billion.
There is mainly a major international investor, China's Xinyi Glass, the world's largest manufacturer of glass and solar panels. The Glasfabriek is not just a company. It is a major investment by Xinyi, which has reportedly pledged $11.6 billion to the plant over several decades. In return, they seem to have been promised the land of Rembang.
In my earlier studies, I called a similar area of special economic importance in India as 'Hydra'. This is because these target areas change their shape, name and purpose based on performance over a period of time. Today, it is the transition to green energy that benefits Indonesia and the world. Therefore, the most remarkable thing that Rembang Eco-City has to offer is a large solar panel manufacturing facility that will supply the world with solar panels in the near future.
The current conservation review will cover many areas for industrial, commercial, residential, tourism, solar farms, wildlife and nature use. Today, Rembang supports farmers, fishermen, seafood growers, exporters, merchants, traders, seafood districts, ten primary schools, three high schools, one high school, hospitals, tourist guesthouses and more. But there is no place for this community in the future vision of "green" Rembang.
A project of strategic importance
The proposed solar panel manufacturing facility and green Rembang facility could usher in a globalized manufacturing boom that the Indonesian government and partner countries such as China envision for the region. This economic vision aims to attract Indonesia's young, cheap workforce, its land and natural resources such as silicon, nickel and cobalt, and its readiness for organizational flexibility.
It was this flexibility that led the government to declare the proposed Rembang Eco-City a project of national strategic importance, allowing it to bypass social and environmental impact assessments and quickly acquire land.
The strategic importance of the Rembang project is not lost on my contacts in Rembang. One of them pointed out that the government's plans to build a new capital in Borneo could lead to closer relations with China. They wondered if the money for the new capital, Nusantara, would come from China, so they "gave" their land in Rembang to the Chinese.
Another said: "Did they ask us? No, they only value investments, not people." Others are linked to China's Belt and Road initiative, which has invested heavily in infrastructure in Indonesia.
One of these investments is a series of bridges that will connect the two largest islands in Riau province near Rembang, the Batam-Bintan Bridge Project, which stretches up to 7 kilometers. Funded by the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, the bridge will facilitate production on Indonesia's westernmost islands and transport these products to Singapore and the rest of the world by land and sea.
The Rembang project could also be part of a trade war between China, the United States and the European Union. In 2022, China produced three-quarters of the world's solar cells and 97% of the silicon chips that make them. Until now, most of this production has been in Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang, where human rights for minorities such as the Uyghurs are poor. Concerns about forced labor and "re-education" camps for Uyghurs have led to Western sanctions.
This is due to the protectionist policies aimed at the development of the solar energy industry in the European Union and the United States. To encourage domestic production of renewable energy and create much-needed green jobs, Western governments are willing to hand out generous subsidies to producers, while levying heavy taxes on imports from rivals such as China. This international trade dispute raises questions. Would massive industrial solar production in a third country allow China to circumvent sanctions and maintain its dominance in global solar panel production?
sand An important resource in the promotion of renewable energy
We know that the green transition will require base metals such as cobalt, lithium and nickel to make electric cars, solar panels and wind turbines. Indonesia has the largest deposits of nickel and cobalt in the world, which makes it very attractive to countries and companies working in the field of renewable energy.
Rembang is not known for large mineral or mineral deposits. However, in addition to its strategic position in the South China Sea overlooking Singapore, Rembang is home to an important resource for the transition to renewable energy: sand. Rembang and the surrounding islands are rich in silica and quartz sand, which are the basis for the production of glass and solar panels.
Large-scale sand mining is often considered an underreported global environmental crisis. The trend of infrastructure and urbanization around the world depends on large reserves of cement and concrete made from sand. By 2060, the world will need 4.6 billion tons of sand. The thirst for solar panels is part of this global sand flood.
Indonesia is the heart of the sand trade. We have been supplying sand to Singapore for years. Official data shows that between 1997 and 2002 alone, Singapore imported 150 million tons of sand from Indonesia. Between 1999 and 2019, Singapore shipped 517 million tonnes of sand from neighbors such as Malaysia, Indonesia and Cambodia.
The Riau Islands are directly affected, with many of the islands greatly reduced in area due to legal and illegal sand exports to Singapore. About a quarter of Singapore is built on reclaimed land with imported sand, including popular areas such as Marina Bay Sands, Luxury Beach and Sentosa Resort. The losers in this land creation process were fishermen and others who depend on coastal lands and waters, including my acquaintances in the Riau Islands. The fishermen I met talk about murky waters, disappearing islands and a sharp decline in fish and seaweed at the height of the sand trade.
In 2003, Indonesia, facing irreparable environmental damage including rising sea levels, shrinking sand and mangrove reserves, banned the trade in sand. However, the illegal sand trade continued. In 2023, sand will be back on the government's agenda as a legally traded commodity. Rembang is likely to face the consequences of new sand mining.
Compensation: a drop in the ocean
The eco-city and solar panel project is a priority for the Indonesian government. Ministers are now deployed on the ground to convince local residents to support the project and listen to them. Investment Minister Bahlil Lahdalia is among them.
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