"Residents oppose Bengkulu power plant after turtles die" 7 February 2020

Residents of Baai Island in Bengkulu and environmental groups continue to push the government to halt the operation of a controversial Sepang Bay coal-fired power plant (PLTU), saying it has diminished biodiversity in the area.

Despite the alleged biodiversity crisis and licensing problems surrounding the power plant, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and the Bengkulu administration were scheduled to inaugurate the project on Wednesday. However, Jokowi cut short his visit to Bengkulu and canceled most of his plans there without immediate explanation, including the power plant inauguration.

Since its construction began in 2016, Baai residents and environment activists have protested against the PLTU, accusing it of destroying the environment, as well as recently causing the deaths of 28 turtles and damaging their properties.

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Ali Akbar, a member of an environmental advocacy group, Kanopi Hijau Indonesia, said nearby residents believed the power plant development had taken away their land, rice fields and mangrove forest, costing them their jobs and income.

Furthermore, Ali alleged there had been maladministration surrounding the power plant project, in which its management, according to Ali, had told the residents that they lacked several permissions necessary for the development, including a waste management permit.

A series of performance tests by the power plant had created air pollution and damaged the bay by causing foam and an abnormal color to appear in the water, according to residents.

Ali’s and the residents’ biggest concern came to the surface when they found turtles around the bay beginning to die. Since the power plant’s testing, they said at least 28 turtles died around it.

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The Bengkulu Environmental and Forestry Agency, the Bengkulu Natural Resources Conservation Center and the provincial office of the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) concluded that the cause of death was bacterial infection and not chemical substances.

According to them, salmonella and clostridium bacteria were consistently found in the turtles’ bodies. They also declared nets and common marine debris around the water as contributing factors to the turtles’ deaths.

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However, another environment group, the Association of People's Emancipation and Ecological Action (AEER), said it suspected there was more to the turtles’ deaths than a mere bacterial infection given that the turtles died only around Baai Island and not in other waters.