Momiji's Writing

Indonesia is one of the country that has peatland. Since it is a hot issues now (or maybe till later), let us talk about it. I will divide this into three section. Why I made this writing clustered, I want to make a general distinction between fact, experience, and opinion. 

#The Fact/ Introduction

Peatland or according to oxford dictionary means land consisting largely of peat or peat bogs. According to the new regulation peatland in Indonesia is grouped into Peat Hydrology Unit (KHG/ Kesatuan Hidrologis Gambut). The total area of KHG in Indonesia is approximately 25.389.647 Ha with the biggest area located in Sumatera with the total area 9.759.834 Ha or 38% from the total peat area. And the second place is Kalimantan with the total area 8.628.377 Ha or 33.98%.

In 2015, the big fire accident happened in peat forest. Because of its peat soil the forest fire became massive. The smog even spreading to the neighbor country, such as Malaysia and Singapore. People believed that the fire is done intentionally in order to convert the forest into a field that will be converted into palm field. This accident turning the attention of the world/ environmentalist into Indonesia. They were asking to do the law enforcement especially for those who has proven to ignite the forest intentionally. Some company was arrested and get penalty because of forest fire cases.

To protect the forest, the Ministry of Environment and Forestry has launched the new regulation regarding peatland. It is some sort of an enforcement of Peraturan Pemerintah Nomor 57 Tahun 2016 about revision of Peraturan Pemerintah Nomor 71 Tahun 2014. This new regulation changing almost all of the mechanism/ area that already exist. The plantation forest or palm maybe the one who is really impacted.

PP 17 year 2017 peat function divided into cultivation function and protection function. In this new regulation article 8 stated that the plantation only can be done in the cultivation function area. If there was a plantation that is already planted in the cultivation function area in the next rotation, that area/ compartment can't be planted again. This area categorization changing the whole work area of the concession holder in peat area.This changing lead to the decreasing of the work area, and off course decreasing production of the wood production. 

These issues even becoming a hot issues between two minister. A mass media, Tempo once making a headline news about the "fight" between two stakeholders regarding peatland. Ministry of Industry oppose the regulation because he said it will harm pulp and paper industry, and also palm industry. While Ministry of Environment and Forestry still unwavering. They strongly believe this must to be done to protect peat area. Some other information I heard even said that the Ministry of Economic Coordinator is tasked to solve this problem, because the regulation is feared will disturb the investment.

Somehow. this "protecting peat" issues become "investment vs environment" issues. The old issues that always happen in these days.

#Personal Experience

The paragraph above is a fact. Now let me tell you my personal experience and my perspective regarding the issue. I absolutely believe there is no absolute solution regarding which is the best management pattern for environment and forestry sectors. Everyone hold their own perspective and their own data. While as for me environment is a mysterious being, with complex structure that sometimes hard to understand even to be simplified. Well here is my story,

I had worked in a plantation forest in 2017. Before I always thought that the forest fire is caused by the "bad" company in order to open the concession area. I always said no to work in HTI or HPH because of this reason besides their sustainability. However, i would like to give a chance to try for personal experience. I mean, I feel it doesn't right to judge something if you've never be the part of it or at least you should have the data before decided something is wrong or right. 

I work as a personal assistant for Japanese speakers, since he barely speak Indonesian language. The major difference in the forest management they execute than ours is they work based on data. So they strongly believe that we should do well to collect the data. For this reason they don't care about how much investment on technology they should use to get the best data. 

Speaking about the forest fire issues, my manager once said only the stupid people ignite the fire in their own concession, because it just the same as they ignite their own money. *well my lecture once said the same thing also*. My old company believe that it doesn't matter to work in peat area as long as we know the watershed condition. The fire is caused by the high mobilization of water to the lower area. The higher area then will be dry and this will caused fire accident. While the lower area will be sink. The knowledge about watershed is strongly needed in peat management.

In an open Seminar held by the company, they firmly stated that the topographic survey is one of the important thing to do before starting to divide the concession area to the work compartment. This topographic data is gained by direct survey, with close interval. The closer the interval the data will be better.

As like the other company in peatland the change in peat function make the concession area decrease. I mean the area that can be cultivated. The company is asked to revised their RKU although the RKU is still applicable.

#Opinion

I strongly support the government initiative to protect forest especially forest in peatland. However, the next question is from what basis they made that Peat Hydrology Unit. Is the data source already validated or is the data source is strong? I mean already know that Indonesia has some shortage of detailed data. So my first question is, in what scale the KHG map is made? 1:100.000? 1:200.000? is that scale is enough to make a decision?Even my old company use interval 5 meter to make topographic map. And is the map already surveyed directly. How much is the error percentage?

In my opinion, the wrong data can lead to another miss management of peatland. So before deciding what step we should take, I suggest we take time to update our basis data, such as land usage map, soil type map, and even the soil characteristic data. I even feel confused when I was conducting my bachelor degree research because the availability data about soil type characteristic reference. When I search for a reference I read a book (forget the name of the book) the book said that mostly map in Indonesia especially soil map scale is in 1:200.000. 

The regulation implementation I think is too sudden. I mean they already sign the "contract" for 100 years for the example. But in the middle the regulation change and I think it is not good for the business stability. As for me rather than changing all of it it is better to validate the data, then increase the law enforcement of the company. The thing is the company won't report another company although they know they are something wrong with the other company because of course they avoid conflict of interest.

Once again, I do support, but if we decide something with the wrong data, I don't thing it is a good idea. Rather than using the wrong data to make regulation I prefer to find a way to manage Industrial Plantation in peatland in a sustainable way. I mean the technology is more advanced now, I believe we could find a technology or a way to make a sustainable management in Industrial Plantation. I think we should broke the idea that the development will disturb environment. We need to find a solution so the development and environment could balance.

So what's your opinion about that?

In Indonesia according to Nawacita that has been declared by President Joko Widodo, Food Security is one of the main focus for his work period. However, although it almost two years of his work, people in agriculture sector seems pessimistic about this goal. There are a lot of problems to settle before we can aim for food security. 

What is Food Security?

Food security already becomes the main focus in this past reign. This goal is noted in Constitution of republic Indonesia article number 27 and Rome Declaration in 1996. Even in 2012, the act of food is already made. Food security, according to this act, is the condition when food is fulfilled for both the whole country and for its residents. This can be seen from the availability of food in quality and quantity, safe, diverse, healthy, equal, and affordable.

Actually, the act isn't about food security only. This act is about food enforcement as a whole. In this Act, there are food sovereignty, food resilience, and food safety too. It is included as a foundation of food enforcement along with benefit, equal access, sustainable, and fairness. 

With a lot of hunger because of lack of food, food security has become the main focus of the United Nation. This we can see in sustainable development goals point number two about zero hunger. According to Food and Agriculture Organization cited by VOA Indonesia, there are approximately 19,4 million people who still starving. This is mainly caused by poverty. 

Food in Indonesia?

Although the idea of equity is already known, in fact, food source mainly located in Java. To distribute it to another province off course it will cause the price increase. Moreover, the in island outside Java especially in the remote area the infrastructure is still low. So to distribute it equally it will be difficult. 

On the other hands, we all know that there are exploding population in Indonesia. Off course to balance the food storage with the need we need to have the proportional agricultural land. However, according to prosperous village alliance in 2015, the land conversion rate is about 100 thousand hectare per year. 

Along with the land conversion, the amount of farmer also decreased. from the same sources, farmer age in Indonesia under 34 is only 12,85 percent while the rest is above 34 years old. The average of their age is 52 years old. If we don't pay attention to this, the cases like Japan will happen in Indonesia too. 

How Can This Happen?

As we know, Jokowi regime now concentrate on building infrastructure in the remote area. This is to make the development faster than before. However, to support the food resilience one province should have their own agricultural land. The innovation and invention should be made according to the need differences. Every province has varied need of food and they should be able to provide their own food. However, this will be impossible without innovation and invention. The local government should try to pay attention for this. Especially in Jokowi era which managing the drainage is one of his focus, we can take benefit from his focus to developing the agricultural land irrigation system. 

We also should appreciate for Merauke. They can manage their land and it is one of the biggest rice sources for Indonesia. Unfortunately, because of the bad distribution system, the rice couldn't be distributed well. What I really proud about Merauke is, the city governor, Federik has made an agreement with Bandung to make an exchange. Merauke will distribute their food to Bandung while Bandung will facilitate them to use Smart City. It will be so good if his initiative needs to be followed by other city governors. 

For the land conversion, actually, there are several reasons for it. First, the conversion of land can be caused because the farmer itself sold it. Why is that? Many believe this is because of the policy that doesn't take sides with the farmer. The value exchange of farmer was be said still low. Like the rice prices, that is so low. The price of Unhauled dry rice is Rp 3750/ kg, unhauled grind rice is Rp 4600/ kg, while for rice Rp 7300/ kg. Bulog as Government agency that manages this sector already gives an idea for the central government to make the price flexible. However, the newest rule still used Inpres No 5 2015 with the price described above.

Bulog, Director of Procurement Wahyu once said that Indonesia rice is the most expensive in ASEAN Country. Although it is the most expensive the high selling price doesn't seem to give a big impact to farmer welfare. According to Wahyu, this is because of incorrect subsidy allocation. He said it is best for the government to give subsidy for after selling phases. So although farmer has failed in their harvesting, the farmer will still get income.

Another problem here is Agraria conflict. The lack of land ownership can be one of factor why the land conversion happen. The case like in Karawang can be one of the examples. We have to make a long-term planning about how we allocated the land. And Land National Agency need to support this. The allocation should be clear and firm. From what I see in Karawang there are the big amount of land conversion from paddy field to property area. In my opinion, maybe the main reason is because of the development of fast train Jakarta-Bandung.

So the Solution?

I can't say it is the solution. However, in my humble opinion, we need to study all of the policy that will be made. It is not about which policy is sexier to write in media, but it is about how to make the right policy to support the farmer. By supporting farmer welfare, I believe the food security can be made. For the example is to allocate the subsidy to after selling phase, and to fix the buying price from the government. We can do this by reactivating the village unit union. 

The innovation and invention should be made. As the land decreased we need to find the right seed that can produce more so although the land keeps decreasing food security will be still embodied. These must be followed by the farmer skill empowerment so they can use the invention or technology that has been made. 

Of course, there is much more problem to do the right food enforcement. The government policy about import also needs to be studied again. Although it is true import is to make sure the food amount is fulfilled however I think import must become short term solution while waiting for infrastructure improvement for agricultural sectors. 

And for us maybe we can try to make urban farming. It is easy anyway. It doesn't require soil, you can make it by using hydroponic technic. You can even use small spaces to do that. Let's try them!

So what will you contribute to help our country to embodied food security? Well, It depends on you.

Reclamation construction is a result of politic negotiation. At first, maybe it's true that the island was build for the sake of economy development and as a solution to solve population increase, bu the implementation somehow beyond that. A lot of regulation seem to be broken by the developer including Environmental Impact Assessment. 

Is it only Jakarta?

Reclamation has been become a solution for seeking a new land. Many countries executed this project, some of them are Hongkong, Singapore, South Korea, Japan, Uni Emirat, and Netherlands. We must admit that reclamation provides valuable land for coastal area and in Jakarta case, we now that this mega project will help the government to give more settlement for people in Jakarta. However, reclamation does have several issues. It will creates various engineering, environmental, and ecological problems (Jiao JJ et al. 2001). In this research, they studied about land reclamation in coastal. From their research they conclude that reclamation did change the ground water condition not only in the coastal side but also in the other side of the hill. They recommend to studied the response of ground water regime to a large-scale reclamation since it nay alter the coastal environment, flooding pattern, and stability of the slopes and foundations. Another research also stated that coastal area is a very sensitive area. So, to develop coastal area, the construction needs to be evaluated deeply from any possibility disturbances. 

Reclamation Island Map Plan (source: google)

What is the effect of reclamation in Jakarta's Coastal?
Well, let's take a look at the map, you can browse it in your google earth if you want. You can see the date taken below the map of your google earth.

The islands shaped like a reverse L (source: google image)

Although the construction was started in 2012, but the effect of reclamation could already be seen from the google earth. In google earth we could see a brownish colour covered the both C and D islands. The things that realy drawn public was the distance of the islands. These islands should be two islands. But as you can see in the map, they make it into one big island. Nono Sampono who is Director at PT Kapuk Niaga Indah, said that it is a construction mechanism. After the island hard enough the island will be separated. And you could also see that how near the D island to the land. And Mangrove Conservation forest is located exactly in the left of the bridge or behind the D island. 

A local NGO that is work in mangrove protection and rehabilitation said that construction of reclamation island will give significant problems in the future if they didn't plan it well. The Leader, Nurul Ikhsan once said that one of mangrove conservation forest is becoming of his concern. We all know that mangrove forest in Jakarta is near extinction. He said that the ideal condition to conserve nature is by planting mangrove in the coastal, but in the implementation it is only cover 15 percents of Jakarta's coastal. Becker (1952) in Tarsoen Waryono (2006) stated that mangrove potention in coastal Jakarta in 1939 was 1210 ha. But in 2000 (Distanhut), it fall dramatically with only 310,50 ha. One of mangrove forest was located exactly behind D Island and C Island. Both island can be seen from the edge of the forest, and from what I've already seen there are no canal who can connect the forest with the sea. Minister of Environment and Forestry Siti Nurbaya in D Island said that the island interrupted mangrove growth. Even without disturbance Tarsoen Waryono said that density of mangrove forest is far behind the ideal condition. It is only 120 tree/ ha, while the ideal condition should be 900-1400 tree/ ha. Alikodra Hadi (1996) in his journal stated that mangrove could be used as protection from sea water.

As a part of a mega project of Indonesia government (Jakarta Great Sea Wall) to prevent flood in Jakarta, there are a lot of studied about reclamation. A policy paper from Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries said that there are several thing that need to be noted. Those are the sea level could rise 7,3 mm/ year, land derivation with average 15 cm/ year, and sediment that accumulate in coastal of Jakarta 42 tons/ year. Another thing that need to be consider is the change in sea current. In this research has been said that the current will be divided into two different type. Those are outside the wall and inside the wall where the islands located. Government should take a note that the flow dynamics will be decrease. This will lead to eutofication and a massive death of fish. And of course there are several issues that caused by the change of sea current, including salinity. This research also shows that if the sand from Serang is the only sources to construct this project then there will be a defisit of sand's sources by 245.836.000 m³.

A group of small scale fisherman also make a protest for this project. They said that because of reclamation islands they lost their fishing territory. From a disertation made by Nono Sampono (PT KNI), he admit that there will be several fisherman that will be impacted by this project. If the fishing territory is classified by its tools so the coverage area that will be impacted is 1527,34 ha. In the conclusion he stated that the project can be implemented as long as the procedure is fullfiled. And he also added that environmen sustainability need to be considered. 

And there are a lot of others impact that you can see in the internet. Those are too much to be explained in this blog.

Is there any benefit from it?
As what I have stated above this project was designed to solve population problem. By making a new land, government can make a new settelement for its citizen. This new land could also lead to a new investment so that the economy can continue to grow. I am still can't decide is this project really effective to prevent flood like what it's supposed to be. But, one thing can I am sure is that this project really can help government to make a lot of houses and industry area to gain more economy profit.

However, government need to strictly observed the construction. From what I see the islands seems to take a wrong path from its initial golas. The settelement seems to be made for the rich. In one of traffic sign that was put in front of bridge to D islands it said that it is called golf island. Is it misuse or this is a real goal of the construction? Well I don't know.

What is regulation from the government to observe this project?
Because of many violation that was done by the developer, the central government ask them to stop all of the construction. To continue the development all of the developer need to fix all of the rule that was set by Ministry of Environment and Forestry (SK 354, SK 355, SK 356). In the first agreement with all the stakeholders the construction will be continued if the developer fulfill all of the condition that was asked by the ministry. This including to fix the distance of C and D islands, and also fix the distance beween D islands and the land (TWA Mangrove).

There are no updated information of how far the developer do the assignment. But in the newst news the new Minister of Marine Affairs Coordinator stated that there is nothing wrong to continue the construction. Well, who knows.

They said that environmental policy always depends on the politic situation in that country. Maybe, the same case also happened in coastal Jakarta. As we all know, our minister in marine affair coordinator was replaced in the newest reshuffle. It changed from Rizal Ramli to Luhut Binsar Panjaitan (before was the minister of justice and human rights). Under the hands of Luhut reclamation of coastal Jakarta will be started again.

NCICD Jakarta Great Sea Wall (source: google image)

What is Reclamation in Coastal Jakarta?

This project was first introduced in Soeharto's era who was the second president of Indonesia. The first regulation called Kepres no. 52/ 1995 about reclamation was signed by the president, Soeharto at that time. This project started when Jakarta was given permission by the central government to develop northern coastal Jakarta. So, this is where all of this fuss started. 

This project aims to give solution for Jakarta government for its need for land (Mitchell, Bruce et al. 2010). The rise of the population made the city government come up with reclamation as its scapegoat. In addition, government at that time hoped that it could help Jakarta from abrasion issues and prevent mangrove ecosystem pollution. As the city which has the land under the sea height, of course, the government tried as hard as possible to prevent Jakarta from sinking. At first, this project was planned in 3 sectors, Pluit, Kapuk Muara, and Marunda with coastal area of 2700 ha, and 32 km in distance. 

However, since his fall out this project never be continued by the next government (Sarifah 1997). Later, in 2003, Ministry of Environment sued this mega project. They wanted this project to be stopped. The developer then prosecutes the institution back. In 2011, attorney general granted developer indictment. In 2012 this project began to walk through again. Even in 2014-2015, City Governor, Basuki Tjahja Purnama was giving permission for 4 developers to start their construction. Those were F island (PT Jakarta Propertindo with SK Gubernur Nomor 2268/ 2015), I island (PT Jaladri Pakci with SK Gubernur Nomor 2269/ 2015), K island (PT Pembangunan Jaya Ancol with SK Gubernur Nomor 2485/ 2015), and G island (PT Muara Wisesa Samudra with SK Gubernur Nomor 2238/ 2014).

There are several developer who join this project like PT Kawasan Ekonomi Khusus (KEK) Marunda, PT Pelindo II, PT Manggala Krida Yudha, PT Pembangunan Jaya Ancol, PT Kapuk Naga Indah (anak perusahaan Agung Sedayu), PT Jaladri Eka Pakci, PT Taman Harapan Indah, PT Muara Wisesa Samudera (anak perusahaan Agung Podomoro), and PT Jakarta Propertindo. The island consist of A until Q islands. But only some company that already begin their construction. Some of them are PT Kapuk Naga Indah (C and D islands), and PT Muara Wisesa Samudra (G islands).

This project was also known as a part of Jakarta Great Sea Wall project.

A island until Q (Source: google image)

Why people make a fuss about that?

Well, there are a lot of reason for this. But, I think what really makes people pay attention to this mega project is because of the corruption between government and the companies.

Earlier this year, coastal Jakarta reclamation started to interest many stakeholders. The reason was because the corruption cases that involved Leader of D commission in Jakarta Legislative Council and some company that was given authority to develop the reclamation island. After that, every single mass media write about this. Many scientists were being asked to explain the impact of this project. After a lot of arguments, finally, the government decided to pending the project while waiting for all the impact assessment finished by the developer. 

Off course, assessments need to be made before the project start, but it seems many violations of the rule that were made by the developer. They didn't really count for sediment load because of the construction. There are some of the projects construction that didn't meet the requirement that had been given in the assessment. And what really concern many people are the sustainability of mangrove ecosystem behind that project, especially behind C and D islands. 

With all of this judgment, Rizal Ramli (Marine Affairs coordinator minister) asked to pending all of the construction. He asked other ministers below his authorization --Ministry of environment and forestry, and Ministry of marine affairs and fisheries-- to take control, to observed the developer so that they can meet the environment eligibility. The developer (C, D, and G Islands) should carry out all of the deadlines that were given by MoEF to improve project execution. 

To be honest, some of local NGO, that named their movement as "Koalisi Selamatkan Teluk Jakarta" (coalition to save Jakarta's Coastal), already sued Jakarta government for this case. They already sued for 4 islands, those are F, I, K, and G Islands. The judgment for G Island was already made by the government administrator court. The result said G island can't be constructed. But, developer appealed to the judge. Because of this, the judge decided that G island couldn't be constructed until the case meets the final decision.

What about now?

Like what I said before, after the reshuffle, Rizal Ramli was swapped with Luhut Binsar Panjaitan whom before was the minister of justice and human rights. Luhut is a politician and also a businessman. Of course, like other politicians, there are several issues around him, but we will talk about it later. 

This Thursday, netizen was being surprised by Luhut announcement that he will give permission for G island to continue. He said that there were nothing wrong with the project. Several modifications can be made to overcome the underground electricity problems. 

This comment annoyed many people, especially environment activist and justice collaborator organization. Tigor Hutapea as an attorney of fisherman in G Island cases express his disappointed feeling towards Luhut. He said that what Luhut did, showed people that he is in developer side. Until G island completed all of the assessment that was asked by MoEF, G Island construction can't be held. In court, G island 'legality' status also was being processed as long as the final decision hasn't been made, all of the stakeholders that participate in G island development should stop their construction.

Politics, Research, Law, and Decision

We couldn't agree more that politics is one aspect that really influence environment policy regulation. City Governor of Bogor once said that in development countries, sustainable nature resources management still economic oriented. As long as it doesn't produce profit then the regulator will think twice to execute it. 

I can't say, what is the main goal of Luhut decision. After all, he once a justice and human rights minister, of course, he will know that when a decision still not inckrhat then we can't continue the project. But, we must know that every decision that has been made wasn't developed from an empty condition. There will be a lot of discussions, negotiations, and bargains to make the policy about nature resources (Bryant 1992). 

Even with all of the research that has been provided by all of the researchers about this project, the central government still tenacious about this mega project. Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries once has given the results of their research about impact assessment about this project in the policy paper. This paper predicts that this project will change the current circulation and water circulation this will lead to sediments load and water pollution. For all of the assessment will be written in the next post. 

Although, research was held, and the results of reclamation were negative there are no guarantee that this project will be terminated. This shows that environment policy is really complex. The decision can't be made just based on scientific matters only. A lot of things that interact in making the final decision. And this decision will lead to another environment issue in the future. Environment management always full of uncertainty. Not only in the decision-making level but also in results after the policy is being regulated. In Jakarta's coastal case, government, especially related minister should consider reviewing this project through fully before comes to a decision. I can't say we can terminate this project yet because of the investment, but I can't agree with the continuation of this project either. 

Well, first let's wait until all of the assessment that has been asked by MoEF made by them and waits until final court decision. 

After a news about the increasing of cigarette's price spread, many pros, and contrast opinion responds to this news.  People said it is important to rise cigarettes price because it will prevent children under the age to smoke. Some others against it by using tobacco farmers and the cigarettes worker as their own shield. So how far I agree with this idea?

Actually, if you search for the news closely Indonesia Cigarettes Factory Association (GAPPRI) said that this news is just a hoax. The leader said there are some steps that should be taken if the government want to increase the price. Tobacco Comunity Movement also said by increasing the price, the farmer's life will be more devastated. Even, Ministre of Finance Sri Mulyani Indarwati said that she hasn't decided to increase the price for cigarette taxes and retail prices. She also said although she knows about the research but she said the price will be based on Revised State Budget 2017 (RAPBN 2017).

This news starts when a research from Hasbullah, a lecture from Universty of Indonesia, was released. In this research, he concludes to avoid children and poor people from using cigarettes the price should be increased to Rp 50 thousands. It means the price climb twice through third times higher than current average prices. This research was held in December 2015 - January 2016 with approximately 1000 respondents. 82 percents said they agree with the price and the rest disagree. 

Increasing cigarettes prices to live healthier is not a new option in around the world. In 2014, South Korea also do the same in order to reduce smokers in its country. South Korea Government was planning to increase the price to 4500 won ( Rp 47 thousands) from 2500 won. There is also much information fromI http://cigarettesprices.strikingly.com/ website about cigarettes prices. It said that since 1965 cigarettes price has been increasing continuously. In the UK, for example, the cost of cigarettes was 8,1 euro (Rp 120 thousands), and it was 9.7 dollars (Rp 128 thousand) in Singapore. And it made Singapura as the highest among all of Asian Countries. On the same website as above, it said that cigarettes consumption per capita in Indonesia was 1085, and Indonesia was placed in the 43rd place of 185 countries. 

We should consider increasing the price of cigarettes in order to reduce consumption of cigarettes in Indonesia. First, I need to assert that I don't think people will stop smoking just because the price has gone higher, but at least we can prevent the cigarettes from misuse. From the graph that was published by Tempo, we could see many data related to smoking habits. It said that smokers from 16-19 years old continue to grow, it was only 7.1 percent in 1995 but it increases third times higher, about 20.5 percent in 2013. Why increasing the price is so much important, it is because beginner smokers number (age 10-14 years old) was continued to grow twice higher in 2013 (18 percent) from 1995 (8.9 percent). And also, we could also see in 2011 that many poor people preferred to choose smoke (19.66 percent) rather than paying for their house accommodation (18.12 percent), gasses and electricity (18.46 percent).  Data from WHO in 2013 also said that for about 500 thousands people died every day because of smoke. 

But, I totally agree that increasing price of cigarettes still need more study, because there are a lot of farmers out there that will be much more devastated if the policy is applied. Not only that, some cities, like Kediri also depending on cigarettes factory taxes as their income. However, rather than stick out with current prices, the government should think seriously how to solve this problem. I don't think it is wise enough increasing the price while buying price in farmer level still low. By establishing the lower price of tobacco, the government could maintain farmer's welfare. And for cities that still depending on cigarettes factory sponsorship, they should find another option source of sponsorship like Jakarta did. After all, if the government increase the taxes approximately there will be another Rp 378.75 billions that will be added to the government budget. The government can use this money for other uses, like subsidies to farmers, food quality improvement, and also for health improvement. And we can ensure that tobacco farmers and workers life could be better.

In conclusion, I do agree about increasing the price of cigarettes in order to improve younger generation health. However, before we do that, the government should take some action and regulation to make sure that farmers and tobacco's factories worker won't be encountered another hardship. And also, The government also should coordinate with cities who still depend on tobacco factories sponsorship to find another income resources.

Jakarta - Sore itu, suasana begitu sendu, senandung lagu yang berjudul Salah Mongso dan Segoro Hilang Manise bergaung di Jalan Merdeka Utara. Lagu berbahasa Jawa itu tampak begitu menyayat hati, seolah-olah suara itu adalah jeritan hati para wanita yang bersiap menyemen kakinya ini. 

Lagu ini bercerita apabila pegununang Kendeng rusak. Sebuah lagu turun temurun yang ada di daerah tersebut. Lagu yang mengajarkan pentingnya menjaga linkungan. Lagu Salah Mongso, misalnya, mengajarkan agar gunung tidak dirusak dan pentingnya menjaga pepohonan. Tujuannya, untuk mencegah agar banjir bandang tidak terjadi.

Sesosok wanita, Deni (28), sehari-harinya berprofesi sebagai petani di Grobogan. Raut wajahnya tak gentar saat ditanya kesiapannya mengecor kakinya. Dengan tegas ia mengatakan akan melakukan hal ini jika dapat membuat pimpinan negara melirik perjuangan masyarakat pegunungan Kendeng. Sembari tersenyum ia mengaku tak takut. "Tidak, saya tidak takut," kata Deni di depan Istana Merdeka, Jakarta, Selasa, 12 April 2016.

Namun, matanya tampak berkaca-kaca ketika berbicara mengenai kondisi lingkungan di kampung halamannya. Berkali-kali ia menyapukan selendang untuk mengusap air mata yang membanjiri pipinya. Keberaniannya berganti kesedihan saat bercerita mengenai kerusakan lingkungan yang mungkin terjadi akibat pabrik semen. 

Deni mengakui, dampak pabrik semen belum terlalu terasa saat ini. Namun, ia tak kuasa menahan tangis saat membayangkan apa yang mungkin menimpa anak cucunya jika pabrik semen ini terus berproduksi. "Yang saya takutkan kalau pabrik semen ini merusak pegunungan Kendeng, dampaknya nanti bisa sampai ke anak cucuk saya," ujar Deni sembari menyeka air matanya.

Bersama Deni, masih ada sembilan srikandi pegunungan Kendeng lainnya yang merelakan kakinya disemen. Sembilan wanita yang berasal dari kawasan pegunungan Kendeng ini tersebar dari Grobogan, Pati, dan Rembang. 

Dengan menggunakan kebaya, selendang, dan caping sembilan wanita ini dengan berani berdiri di depan kotak berukuran 100 x 40 cm. Nantinya mereka akan mengecor kakinya. Kesembilan wanita pemberani ini berasal dari wilayah yang berada di sekitar kawasan pegunungan kendeng, diantaranya adalah Pati, Grobogan, dan Rembang. Mereka adalah Sukinah, Supini, Murtini, Surani, Kiyem, Ngadinah, Karsupi, Deni, dan Rimabarwati.

Pegunungan Kendeng meliputi sejumlah daerah di Jawa Tengah, seperti Rembang, Pati, Blora, dan Grobogan. Terdapat beberapa pabrik semen di daerah ini. Diantaranya adalah PT Semen Indonesia yang berada di Rembang. Pabrik semen ini berdasarkan investigasi Tempo, memiliki dokumen Amdal yang ganjil. Misalnya dari segi proses yang dinilai tidak memperhatikan sejumlah poin. 

Menurut dokumen Amdal, mata air tidak ditemukan di sana. Padahal, menurut hasil investigasi Tempo, mata air jelas ada di daerah tersebut. Dan, berdasarkan Keputusan Presiden Nomor 26 Tahun 2011, Presiden Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono menetapkan kawasan tersebut, yakni Watuputih sebagai kawasan CAT (Cadangan Air Tanah).

Meski sudah diprotes, toh, penambangan ini masih berlanjut. Sementara pabrik semen di Pati masih dalam proses persidangan di PTUN. Aksi ini juga pernah digelar tahun lalu namun tak digubris pemerintah. Karena itu, masyarakat pegunungan kendeng kembali menggelar aksinya. Menurut para pendemo aksi ini akan digelar hingga Presiden Joko Widodo menemui mereka.

Salah seorang petani yang turut menemani, Ngatemi (42) mengatakan, meski di daerahnya pabrik belum dibangun lantaran masih menjalani proses di pengadilan. Namun, ia tidak rela kampung halamannya dibangun pabrik, apaalgi lokasi rumah Ngatemi dari tambang kurang dari setengah Km. "Kita enggak apa-apa gak ada tambang, wong kita makannya nasi kok, bukan semen," kata Ngatemi.