- Dozens of female fishermen in Makassar protested the inauguration of the Makassar New Port (MNP) by President Joko Widodo in Makassar, Thursday (22/2/2024).
- So far, reclamation activities for the construction of the MNP port have resulted in the loss of jobs for women looking for shellfish and kanjappang and reducing the income of traditional fishermen.
- To date, there are 150 female fishermen who are still struggling to maintain their management space on the coasts affected by the MNP project. They have submitted complaints regarding violations of women's rights to the National Commission on Human Rights and the National Commission on Violence Against Women of the Republic of Indonesia.
- The construction of MNP, which requires government investment of IDR 5.4 trillion, is the largest port in Eastern Indonesia (KTI) and the second largest after Tanjung Priok with a depth of 16 meters, with a capacity of 2.5 million TEUs.
Dozens of female fishermen in Makassar who are affiliated with the SP Anging Mammiri Community protested against the inauguration of the Makassar New Port (MNP) port by President Jokowi in front of the PLN Tallo Main Substation, Makassar, South Sulawesi, Thursday (22/2/2024).
They displayed posters and appealed to reject the inauguration of this national strategic project because it caused various environmental impacts and loss of living space for fishermen, especially female fishermen.
MNP development, which is managed by PT Pelabuhan Indonesia IV (Persero), has started work on MNP stages 1B and 1C since early 2019 with a construction target of 1,000 meters along the north coast of Makassar.
The construction of MNP, which requires government investment of IDR 5.4 trillion, is the largest port in Eastern Indonesia (KTI) and the second largest after Tanjung Priok with a depth of 16 meters, with a capacity of 2.5 million TEUs, is a project funded directly by Business Entities. State Owned (BUMN), in this case PT Pelindo. Previously, this port only had a capacity of 750,000 TEU.
However, behind the splendor of this port, there are a number of problems for the people who live around the port. At the MNP project location, there are five traditional fishing communities, each of which is divided and lives in Tallo, Kalukubodoa, Cambayya, Buloa and Gusung sub-districts. Most of the residents living in the area are fishermen looking for fish, crabs and tude ( shellfish ). They are considered to be very affected by the development of this MNP.
According to Suryani, Chair of the SP Anging Mammiri Community Executive Board, this is not the first time the rejection of the construction of the MNP port has been carried out, but has been carried out since the first construction phase in 2017 where coastal women together with traditional fishermen in Cambaya, Buloa, Tallo subdistricts, carried out similar actions. They have even protested several times to the South Sulawesi Provincial DPRD.
"We are carrying out this protest because MNP development activities have eliminated fishermen's livelihoods, women's food sources, environmental pollution, mud caused by transportation of heavy equipment, rubbish and oil waste, giving rise to social, economic and gender inequality," said Suryani. .
Suryani explained that reclamation activities for the construction of the MNP port had an impact on the loss of jobs for women looking for shellfish and kanjappang and reduced the income of traditional fishermen. Women have to work and think extra to continue to meet the family's needs. Moreover, the characteristics of the sea, which are identified with masculinity, are often considered a domain that cannot possibly be managed by women.
"As a result, women are never involved in the consultation process, their identity as fishermen is not recognized, even though they have used the coast as a management space for generations. "Female fishermen do not receive empowerment programs or fishermen's insurance cards while they carry out activities at sea the same as male fishermen," he said.
According to Suryani, to date there are 150 female fishermen who are still struggling to maintain their management space on the coasts affected by the MNP project. They have submitted complaints regarding violations of women's rights to Komnas HAM and Komnas Perempuan, even though there has been no clear solution to the conflict by the government or the company.
Other efforts made by female fishermen are by meeting and having dialogue with the company (Pelindo), dialogue with the governor of South Sulawesi, the Makassar City Government, Commission E, Commission B, Commission C, the Secretary of the South Sulawesi Provincial DPRD. In various dialogue spaces, coastal women and traditional fishermen expressed their demands, namely urging the government and companies to restore economic rights and restore environmental rights.
Even at the hearing (RDP) held on January 24 2023, the DPRD government and the company PT. Pelindo IV agreed to go to Jakarta together to meet with PT. Indonesian Port discussed this issue, but again Commission B and the company ignored the results of the agreement.
“Commission B met with PT. The Indonesian port in Jakarta does not involve representatives of women and traditional fishermen. "This shows non-compliance with the results of the RDP and the government's lack of seriousness in resolving women's problems."
According to Suryani, the National Strategic Project (PSN) scheme is an effort to centralize natural resource management, through Presidential Regulation Number 109/2020, a regulation oriented towards extractive and infrastructure development. A series of agrarian and environmental problems arise as a result of PSN, resulting in a negative impact on people's lives, as is the case with MNP, which is considered to have impoverished coastal women and traditional fishermen on the coast of Makassar.
Suryani said that the inauguration of the MNP port by President Joko Widodo was a clear form of the state's disregard for fulfilling and protecting the human rights of coastal women and traditional fishermen.
A number of female fishermen who took action against the rejection of the inauguration of the MNP port, were subjected to violence by security forces by forcibly taking a number of posters put up by the women.
"The actions of resistance and protest voiced by coastal women are a form of disappointment and anger among fishing women who have been fighting for their rights to marine space. We condemn all forms of intimidation and violence carried out by security forces under any pretext. Expressing opinions in public is the right of every citizen, including female fishermen," he said.
Suryani considers this situation to be a violation of the right to freedom of expression and opinion in public as guaranteed by law.
Largest Port
At the inauguration ceremony of the MNP port in Makassar, Thursday (22/02/2024), President Jokowi believed that this port was ready to become the largest hub while increasing the efficiency of logistics costs in Eastern Indonesia.
"This will be a large port in eastern Indonesia which we hope can streamline logistics costs in our country," said the President, quoted from the Cabinet Secretariat website.
The President appreciated logistics costs in Indonesia which have now fallen to 14 percent and dwelling time which has fallen from seven days to under three days.
The President compared the current MNP with the old one, from 750,000 TEUs to 2.5 million TEUs.
"This is a very high jump with the investment invested here being IDR 5.4 trillion. "We'll see how the development of this port progresses, which will become a large port in eastern Indonesia, and we hope it can streamline logistics costs in the country," he said , as quoted from sulselprov.go.id .
He hopes that MNP will have an impact on the competitiveness of products in eastern Indonesia and that logistics cost efficiency will also improve so that products in eastern Indonesia can compete with other regions of Indonesia or with other countries.