Indonesia – Solidarity Needed: Stop the Northern Coastal Reclamation Project
From PH Mobile Infoshop
March 22, 2007

Dear All,

We know that your country had suffered like us, and we also know that it is quite impossible to measure one’s suffering and compare it to the suffering of others, to the fact that we are still in the same earth in which capital power had spread their influence everywhere. We are in this together. Even so, we would like to inform you what we are facing and trying to do down here.

To this year, since the collapse of Soeharto’s Orde Baru Regime, our social and environmental conditions had not yet improved, it is merely getting worst. We know that this new era of ‘democratic leadership’ is another type of regime that will never be a real alternative to this nightmare, and can only function as an administration for global capital. It is a repetitive form of bourgeouis democracy, in which the rulling class still prevail and control our lives. An endless project of destroying (exploiting) environment and social relation have not stopped, in fact it’s getting bigger each day and every year, and at the same time it will increase social unrest and horizontal conflict (religion, race, ethnicity) among the society. The bourgeouis still have their monopolies over our sun and air.

One of the outrages project that will begin this October, is the northern coastal reclamation project in Jakarta. This project consists of numerous corporation, national and international, that hoped to establish more and more useless trade centre and real estates. This project that we already studied, will cause a huge impact towards environment and society. It will cause bigger flood and devastating effects to the vast poor communities of Jakarta. For more detailed information about these capitalist project, please read the attachment:

We, Jaringan Otonomis, are a newly formed network of individuals and groups in favor of autonomous social relationship and an end to capitalist system. We are seeking to engage in a more wider social upheaval, and involved in a grassroot manner of social struggle. Therefore, right now, we try to further our influence to the vast majority of poor community in Jakarta.

There are many obstacles to spread critical thinking and alternatives to these marginalized communities. Most of them were illiterate, and their cultural background enforced them to stay passive and accepting whatever lies the rulling class offer to them. Their inferiority is their only weakness. Our goal is not to become their representatives or leaders, but to enforce them to organize their own community in order to become more less dependent and to be self-sufficient. Considering the need of education and reducing religious and racial fanaticism, we feel it is important to realize informal critical education among the poor community. And this is our first step in order to be involved into their community organizing. The communities that we chose, are those who are squatting on illegal land, and easily get evicted according to governmental law.

Many projects and campaign that we have to do and most of it were still on the level of media propaganda. We need your solidarity in whatever form you think would be helpful for us. And we hope that this solidarity will bring our movement more close to each other, in which we can communicate our problems and achievements, to fight the global capitalist system and the state.

For a World Without Borders, Autonomy, and an end to capitalist nightmare
– Jaringan Otonomis (addressed to all Anarchist in Manila)

Read more : http://325collective.com/eco-struggle_northern.html