"Sumatra women farmers celebrate court win against China-backed zinc mine" 16 August 2023

In June, Dormaida Sihotang and dozens of other women from Dairi district in Indonesia’s North Sumatra province arrived in Jakarta to plead with authorities to stop a zinc mine...

A month later, a court in Jakarta sided with Dormaida and the Dairi women, instructing the ministry on July 24 to revoke the environmental permit authorized to PT Dairi Prima Mineral (DPM) in August last year.

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The women who made the journey from Dairi to Jakarta ahead of the court case in June welcomed the ruling.

“I and others are happy that the court in Jakarta agrees that mining companies and the Ministry of Environment and Forestry have acted unfairly to us, as well as to the environment,” said Opung Rainim Purba, a woman farmer from Dairi.

Civil society groups are now expected to press the central government to follow through on the court’s judgement...

However, the July 24 judgement may not be the final say on DPM’s plan to uncover up to 5% of the world’s reserves of zinc from a fragile environment. The environment ministry can appeal the decision at a higher court.

“We ask the respondents to respect the judges’ decision and carry out the court’s order to cancel the granting of an environmental feasibility permit to the mining company DPM,” said Tongam Panggabean, executive director of Legal Aid and Advocacy for the People of North Sumatra (Bakumsu), a civil society group that has led the community’s legal fight against the mine.