Atri Suryatri Abbas, Vachri Rinaldy Lutfipambudi, Makassar – Students who are members of the Democratic People's Committee (Komrad) held a protest action by unfurling a giant banner under the Jalan AP Pettarani Flyover in Makassar, South Sulawesi, on Wednesday October 28.
Based on Kompas.com's monitoring, the banner read "Karhutla National Disaster" along with a picture of a person wearing a mask and sitting next to an orangutan.
This action, which coincided with the momentum of Youth Pledge Day, called for forest and land fires (karhutla) to be immediately declared a national disaster.
"Prabowo and his staff are unable to declare a national disaster, so we along with Komrad have determined that the Prabowo-Gibran regime is the national disaster, not the karhutla, but the regime is the national disaster", said Komrad Field Coordinator Nurhidayat on Wednesday, referring to the administration of President Prabowo Subianto and Vice President Gibran Rakabuming Raka.
The protesters believe that the impact of forest and land fires has entered a critical stage because it not only damaged the national ecosystem, but was also starting to have cross-border impacts.
Plight of animals
The group also highlighted threats to the survival of animals saying forest fires take away the living space of animals whose status is protected by law.
"Imagine how vast their roaming area is. They have the status of protected animals, but who is protecting them? The forests are being cleared, while the condition of wild animals has never received strict attention from the state", said Nurhidayat.
He emphasised the importance of protecting the existence of endemic animals and urged law enforcement without compromise for perpetrators of forest fires.
"Endemic animals such as those in South Sulawesi must be prioritised. Protected animals should be protected, while forest burners do not need to be protected. There must be firm action", he added.
In a statement Komrad also voiced criticism of the government which was considered slow and lacking firmness in handling forest and land fires prevention in various regions.
"Today, coinciding with the momentum of the Youth Pledge, we are raising the issue of karhutla because all eyes are on this issue. What we are asking for is the determination of a national disaster because the impact has spread to the international region", he asserted.
The protesters stated that handling forest and land fires reflects the government's poor commitment to preserving the environment and the safety of citizens.
"If the regime is unable to declare the karhutla as a national disaster, then we consider that the real national disaster is the regime itself", he said.
Notes
On October 28, 1928, Indonesian students and youth gathered in Jakarta to declare the Youth Pledge – generally accepted as the first open declaration of Indonesian independence – which called for a united independent Indonesia under the theme of "One Nation, One People, One Language". It was the first time that a substantial body of anti-colonial activists committed themselves to an independent united nation with Malay as the national language.
[Translated by James Balowski. The original title of the article was "Demo di Makassar: Massa Bentangkan Spanduk Raksasa, Desak Karhutla Jadi Bencana Nasional".]
