Learning Series Videos: Dana Pengembangan dan Pemberdayaan Masayarakat di Sektor Pertambangan (2)

Our country, Indonesia, is rich in many different ways.
It is the world’s largest island country. It extends over 5k km from east to west and nearly 18k km from north to south.
It consists of over 17k islands.

Half of our country is covered by forest. Our fertile land, fed by abundant rains, provides us with food crops and grazing land for livestock.

Our sea, rivers, and lakes are sources of fish, seaweed, pearls, and drinking water. And underneath the surface, we have the minerals, like gold, tin, and copper. 270 mil people live in Indonesia. It is the world's fourth-most populous country. Jakarta is our capital city. With its 34 million residents, it is among the largest ones in the world.

Our country is ethnically and linguistically diverse.  We have around 1,3k distinct ethnic groups and over 700 different languages.
Economic and health conditions in our country have improved significantly in the last 20-30 years. But many challenges still remain, such as child malnutrition, high rate of smoking, & infectious diseases.

Indonesian nature and culture are unique. We have a warm, stable tropical climate, a vast archipelago, & a long stretch of beaches. And we have a rich cultural heritage that reflects Indonesia's history & ethnic diversity. These attract tourists from abroad.

Indonesia is the second-biggest producer of tin in the world after China. Most of its tin comes from Bangka and Belitung regency, where there are large tin reserves.

Tin mining companies have 800 permit areas on Bangka Island. The permit areas are located both onshore and offshore.
 
Each tin mining company has to set aside money for community development and empowerment, called PPM. The PPM money must be used to develop communities affected by tin mining. 
 
Our country’s laws say that all extractive companies in Indonesia have to do PPM.
 
On Bangka, the PPM money can be used to: fund new or existing small-medium scale enterprises (UMKM) for people’s income; Support schools, teachers, or religious education; To fund social and cultural activities; To fund public service facilities like mosques, churches, and Posyandu.
 
You and your community members can influence which projects get funding.
 
The government of Bangka Belitung has developed a guide that provides a list of villages that can receive PPM money. Your village is one of those villages.

In 2022, PPM on Bangka was around 21.6 billion rupiah.
 
If you used 100k rupiah notes to cover a badminton field, you could cover 26 such badminton fields.

The PPM money from tin mining should be managed so that it benefits you and the other people in your community.

Mining benefits belong to us all, including our children and their children. It is what our 1945 National Constitution says.

In some villages, the community members have requested the village government and the company to spend PPM to improve their life and livelihoods.

In one village in Bangka District, a group of women talked about different ways they could use PPM to improve their livelihoods. The group included 16 housewives from the village. None of the women had formal employment.
 
They discussed several ideas. One of them was to rent land for farming.
 
With support from the village head, the group submitted a proposal for PPM funding. They received PPM funding from PT. Refined Bangka Tin to rent a piece of land.
 
The women used the land to cultivate peanuts, chilies, and maize.  They also tried out new cultivation methods like growing vegetables in polybags. The women sold the products at local markets.

Farming has helped the women to increase their household income. The women are very happy with the farming and feel that it has been a really good thing for them and their community.
 
The women want to continue the farming. They are seeking new land to rent and want to secure PPM for their activities also in the future.

In another village on Bangka, the fish trap (bubu) fishing community developed floating fish nets to farm fish.
 
However, they lacked the money to increase their production and have more secure incomes.

The fishers got together and decided to apply for PPM money to purchase fish feed and fish fry.
 
The PPM money helped the fishermen to increase their fish harvest and improve their livelihoods. 

A group of villagers in one coastal village of Bangka run a small-scale enterprise of fruit chips making.
 
The group received PPM funding to buy dehydration, frying, and packaging machines to boost fruit chips production.
 
The fruit chips then sold in stores and provided additional income for the villagers.

Other examples of how communities have benefitted from PPM include the following: tree replantation, essential oil processing, scholarships for children, mangrove reforestation, Posyandu & facilitating religious learning centers.

These examples show that people like you can make a big difference in how PPM money is spent in your community.