"Behind the Green Promises of Pomalaa Industrial Park", 22 January 2026

.... Since the government designated the Indonesia Pomalaa Industrial Park (IPIP) and its processing plant, PT. Kolaka Nickel Indonesia (KNI), as a National Strategic Project (PSN), the area .... has become a battleground for multinational corporations, global investors, and voiceless local residents.

The IPIP and KNI projects, touted as green industries, are being run by ... PT Vale Indonesia, Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt, and Ford Motor Company—who are constructing a massive High- Pressure Acid Leaching (HPAL) smelter and an industrial zone spanning approximately 11,000 hectares.

Meanwhile, Rimau Group, a coal company in the Barito Timur block of Central Kalimantan, acquired a stake in PT. IPIP. However, since the construction phase began, no “green” footprint has been documented.....

.... More than 2,000 hectares of land have been made available for this “green” project over the last three years (2022-2025). The openings encroach on protected forests, production forests, and the Oko-Oko and Mekongga river basins, which are the Pomalaa community’s main water sources. ...

.... we discovered that Vale Indonesia’s concessions, the industrial park, and the HPAL plant overlap with a protected forest area of 5,176.04 ha, as well as the Mekongga and Oko-Oko Watershed Areas. We ..... are concerned about the potential disasters caused by the Vale Indonesia concessions located in this critical ecosystem....
.... Pomalaa has evolved into a stage where human rights, global energy transition interests, and national interests clash....
... Satya Bumi, Puspaham, and the communities of Oko-oko Village, Pesouha Village, Hakatutobu Village, and Sopura Village have formulated ... demands ..., namely:

1. ..... Urging the central government to evaluate the list of National Strategic Projects in Pomalaa District and make the evaluation results public. Provide .... support to victims of human rights violations, .... requiring companies involved in industrial park and mining projects to improve environmental sustainability.
2. ..... Urging multinational and national companies to restore environmental damage and human rights violations caused by the development process of industrial parks and mining. Implement responsible mining practices ... with the guidelines of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and conduct a clean supply chain assessment .... with the standards of the China Chamber of Commerce for Metals, Minerals and Chemicals Importers and Exporters (CCCMC).
3. Electric vehicle company – Halt the funding to the Pomalaa nickel processing plant if environmental remediation efforts have not been met by business partners....
4. Investor Funding Bank – Take decisive action by conducting a comprehensive assessment of the environmental impact and human rights violations caused by the invested companies.....

..... In its clarification response letter, PT Vale Indonesia stated that, as at the end of 2025, it had cleared 880.3 hectares of forest areas, comprising 82.4 hectares of Protected Forest; 176.5 hectares of Permanent Production Forest; 569.3 hectares of Permanent Production Forest; 33.1 hectares of Convertible Production Forest; and 19 hectares of other cleared areas. ... in the 2024–2025 period, the total area cleared amounted to 487.9 hectares. This indicates that forest clearing within PT Vale Indonesia’s concession has intensified significantly over the past year........