DIGIVESTASI - Large-scale mineral mining is believed to reduce the income of farmers and fishermen. Mining expansion is expected to cause environmental damage and destroy jobs.

Based on a recent report by the Center for Economic Law Studies (Serios), the operation of nickel smelters in the three main provinces that have nickel smelting operations, namely Central Sulawesi, South Sulawesi and North Maluku, will result in the loss of farmers' income. There is a possible connection.

Fishermen will earn US$234.84 million or Rp3.64 trillion over the next 15 years. Serios President Director Bhima Yudhisthira Adinegara said that people who switched to nickel processing were not comparable to their previous jobs.

The downstream increased, but the income of fishermen and people working in agriculture and forestry decreased, Beema said in Jakarta on Tuesday (February 20, 2024). Furthermore, using Celios' business-as-usual (BAU) scenario, the study also shows that an economic value added of $387.1 million, or more than Rp6 trillion, will be lost over the next 15 years.

 

The negative impacts of the BAU scenario on the value added of the agriculture and fisheries sectors include droughts that disrupt agriculture and water pollution that has the potential to poison fish and significantly damage fisheries ecosystems. For example, WALHI's report highlights the threats faced by pepper farmers in the South Sulawesi region in 2023.

The economic value generated from this plantation reaches Rp 3.6 trillion per season/year. However, these plantations are threatened by environmental impacts in the form of destruction of rainforests and lakes due to the construction of nickel smelters. "As the nickel smelter capacity increases, there is enormous pressure on the agriculture, fisheries and forestry sectors," he said.

Beema said there is a common misconception that employment opportunities in the downstream nickel sector will help local workers and increase the average income of the community. In reality, while farmers still work their own land, labor in the nickel industry comes from other countries, and the presence of smelters poses a threat to local farmers.