Yatin, Small Man with Great Courage

The man may be small in stature, but he is courageous and brave, fighting off the hired thugs that guard the local sand and rock quarry with heavy tools. He has received many threats. Although he was afraid, he was still determined to fight back. He has only one goal: to sustain the environment of his village at the foot of Mount Merapi.

The thin, 155-centimeter-tall man is Yatin, 45. His life has been full of challenges since childhood. He grew up at the Muhammadiyah Orphanage of Tamanagung village in Muntilan, Central Java. After finishing senior high school, he returned to his birthplace of Ngargomulyo village in Dukun district, Magelang regency, Central Java.

He was shocked into disbelief to find that the village had changed. The distinctive sounds of nature were no more, like the song of birds and the chirp of crickets. They had been replaced by the sound of heavy equipment and dozens of trucks carrying sand, passing through the damaged village streets. The quarrying activities even encroached the surrounding steep cliffs. The tall trees had been cut down for the mine, laying bare the once green village. The village’s springs had dried up, one by one. The worst damage occurred in 2005.

It was not only the physical environment that had been harmed. Yatin also discovered that junior high school children were working to transport sand alongside the adult workers, who often invited them to drink.

The other villagers had also witnessed these changes. However, they could do nothing and remained silent. Yatin was extremely concerned about the situation. It was then that he met Father V. Kirjito, who was then the priest of Santa Maria Lourdes parish in neighboring Sumber village, which held many workshops on saving the local water supply. Yatin attended several workshops and gained strong understanding in the importance of protecting the environment.

He joined the Semut Merapi community and the Loving Water Society (GM-CA). Yatin took part in various activities to object the sand and rock quarry that used heavy equipment, which was prevalent in the areas around Mount Merapi.

“Several times, I also had the time to initiate and coordinate action against the quarry,” he said.

He also spoke at various villages and local mosques to raise awareness of the quarry’s adverse effects on local residents. Yatin was then known as a religious and community leader. He has an important standing in the local community, so the mining and quarrying company ask him for a recommendation letter to quarry sand and rock in Ngargomulyo village. Even though the village and other local figures have given their approval, Yatin refused to do so.

The sand and rock quarry primarily uses heavy equipment, and is driven by investors from outside the village and even beyond Magelang. The workers and quarry drivers also come from outside Magelang, from cities like Semarang and Yogyakarta. The quarry provides no economic benefits for the local villagers. Instead, they only suffer its negative impacts, particularly environmental damage and the heightened risk of landslides.

The extensive use of heavy quarrying equipment has also caused severe damage in other villages, including local farms.

Intimidation

Yatin’s boldness in rejecting the quarrying has upset the people who profit from the business. He was threatened and intimidated on several occasion by the thugs that protect the quarry. “I was scared. I did not dare go home and hid in a cattle pen outside the village for three days,” he recalled.

The threats and intimidation attempts ceased when Yatin was elected as the Ngargomulyo village head in 2007. Instead, the thugs and quarry representatives approached him and offered benefits from the quarrying business. Yatin rejected their offer. He began using his position to fight against the quarry.

He also stepped up his efforts to inform the villagers about the importance of protecting the environment. The community’s growing solidarity eventually caused the mining and quarrying company to pull out of Ngargomulyo village.

To ensure continued environmental protection, Yatin and the villagers drafted Village Regulation No. 3/2009 on environmental management. The regulation mandates that permits would be issued only for mining and quarrying activities that provided a livelihood for villagers and did not cause significant environmental damage. Mines and quarries may also not be located close to natural sources of water. The Magelang regency administration approved the regulation, which also prohibits villagers from shooting birds and blast fishing.

Yatin and the villagers’ efforts have produced tangible results. Since 2006, the asphalt roads that span about 10 kilometers in Ngargomulyo village have been restored and maintained. Meanwhile, the roads are generally damaged in other villages where widespread mining and quarrying activities continue.

In addition to issuing the village regulation, Yatin also mobilized the local residents in restoring the environment after natural disasters, including the 2010 Mt. Merapi eruption that felled many trees and buried the village’s water supplies. He called on the villagers to plant 50,000 trees after the disaster.

In 2009, the village had 101 natural sources of water. A year after the eruption, only 59 water sources remained. As a result of Yatin and the villagers’ regreening efforts, the village’s water sources increased to 132 by 2014.

Yatin said the environment must be protected and sustained for future generations. “Do not let the future generation only hear stories about the beauty of nature and [wild] animals,” he said.

Yatin

Born: Magelang, Aug. 31, 1973

Wife: Triana Ariani, 40

Children: Azaria Anindita Naya, 9; Al Yusuf Atarachman Rafasya, 1

Education: SMA Muhammadiyah Muntilan

Occupation: Ngargomulyo village head. [Sumber : Kompas, Selasa, 2 April 2019|Oleh : Regina Rukmorini]