BATAM, Indonesia — A major Chinese solar panel manufacturing development on an Indonesian island saw renewed clashes in September between a company allegedly controlled by an Indonesian household name and the island’s Indigenous communities resisting eviction. Siti Hawa, a 66-year-old grandmother, suffered a broken wrist after she stepped in to prevent a security guard from striking members of her community here on Rempang Island, which is closer to Singapore than to the Indonesian island of Sumatra. “They hit me with their strength and it broke,” Siti told Mongabay Indonesia. Sun trap The Indonesian government in August 2023 announced the Rempang Eco-City project, an initiative covering 7,000 hectares (17,000 acres) of Rempang Island. The project’s centerpiece is a $11.6 billion glass and solar panel factory by Hong Kong–based giant Xinyi International Investment. The remaining 10,000 hectares (17,300 acres) of Rempang Island would be zoned as protected forest. The government has categorized the project as one of strategic national importance, or PSN, which smooths licensing for investors. The development requires the eviction of most of Rempang’s approximately 7,500 residents, including many Indigenous seafarers. The developer of the industrial estate is PT Makmur Elok Graha (MEG), a Jakarta-based firm owned by Grideye Resources Limited, a company registered in the British Virgin Islands, a notorious tax haven and secrecy jurisdiction. Directors listed in MEG’s corporate network are affiliated with the Artha Graha Group, the diversified conglomerate of prominent businessman Tomy Winata, according to research by Trend Asia. The development on Rempang is also tied…This article was originally published on Mongabay
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