Member of Commission IV of the Indonesian House of Representatives, Johan Rosihan, stated that the opening of oil palm plantations in Papua must take environmental safety and social justice into account to avoid negative impacts that harm the community.
In a statement received in Jakarta on Wednesday, Johan urged the government to conduct a transparent strategic environmental study before implementing the major energy development plan in Papua.
"My appeal is clear: energy development must be in line with environmental safety and social justice. Papua is not a laboratory for policy testing. One misstep can have far more serious and difficult-to-recover impacts," he said.
In addition to the study, the legislator in charge of the environmental sector also emphasized the importance of a comprehensive audit of land permits and the involvement of Papuan indigenous communities as the main subjects of development.
According to him, the discourse on planting oil palms in Papua should not be viewed solely from an economic or energy security perspective, but should also be seriously examined from an ecological, social, and land management perspective.
Johan said that oil palm is not automatically a bad crop, but the risks are high if planted without strict ecological planning and without respecting environmental carrying capacity and the rights of indigenous communities.
"The experience of ecological disasters in Aceh and Sumatra should be a national lesson," said Johan.
