Sukamulya villagers resist eviction for Kertajati airport and aerotropolis

April 6, 2017 Rose Bridger Indonesia, land rights aerotropolis, Articles, eviction, farmland, Front Perjuangan Rakyat Sukamulya, Indonesia, Kertajati Aerocity, Kertajati Aerotropolis, Kertajati Airport, Konsorsium Pembaruan Agraria (KPA), land rights, police brutality, protest, Sukamulya, video

An article about resistance to eviction from their homes and productive agricultural land for a new airport in Java, Indonesia, has been published by The Ecologist online magazine: Indonesia: Villagers resist eviction for 50 sq.km ‘aeropolis’ / Airport city on their land. Ten villages, and a vast area of farmland, have already been wiped from the map for Kertajati Airport, which is currently under construction. But Sukamulya village remains. Residents have sustained their resistance to displacement for the airport for over 12 years, since the project was first mooted in 2004. The Front Perjuangan Rakyat Sukamulya (FPRS) was formed to resist eviction for the airport.

Sukamulya villagers have blocked officials from measuring land for Kertajati Airport on many occasions. Starting in August 2016 a series of attempts to measure the land were successful blocked by residents. But on 17th November 2016, when people had gathered yet again to protect their farmland, 2,000 police rushed onto the fields to disperse them and enforce the land measurement. Twelve protesters were injured and the barbaric eviction attempt has been widely condemned by Indonesian human rights organizations and NGOs. Land rights and agrarian reform NGO Konsorsium Pembaruan Agraria (KPA) highlighted resistance against Kertajati Airport as one of Indonesia’s key land rights struggles.

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A video by AGRA Indonesia Alliance of Agrarian Reform Movement/Aliansi Gerakan Reforma Agraria shows the firing of teargas at Sukamulya residents attempting to defend their land and resist eviction.

If development of the project goes ahead as planned Kertajati Airport will be the starting point for an even larger development, an aerotropolis. An Aerocity adjoining the airport site is planned. In total, 50 square kilometres of land, predominantly productive farmland, has been earmarked for Kertajati aerotropolis: 1,800 hectares for the airport and 3,200 hectares for the Aerocity.

Mapping aviation expansion in Indonesia

April 4, 2017April 4, 2017 Rose Bridger Indonesia aerotropolis, aviation expansion, economic zones, Indonesia, land rights, maps, megaprojects, roads, Storymap, tourism

Following extensive research GAAM has published a digital interactive map: Aviation expansion in Indonesia: tourism, land struggles, economic zones, and aerotropolis projects. The map includes 60 airports – operational, under construction and still at the proposal stage, plus two airport projects which were cancelled. The issue of land rights in particular is highlighted, documenting disputes and resistance against displacement relating to 25 airport projects. Two airports currently under construction in Java, Kertajati and Kulon Progo, are of particular concern because of human rights violations, including police brutality, against people resisting eviction from their homes and productive agricultural land. Aerotropolis development is planned adjoining both of these airports.

Indonesia map graphic — Screengrab of GAAM Aviation Expansion in Indonesia digital map

The digital map represents only a fraction of airport projects in Indonesia, which already has 237 operational airports with a government expansion drive aiming for 62 new airports within 15 years, bringing the total number to 299. Yet it demonstrates the exciting potential of online mapping for organizing, analyzing and presenting information. GAAM hopes to collaborate with other organizations in the development of online maps to develop a more comprehensive picture of aviation expansion and the impacts on affected communities, making the most of this wonderful technology to support our research, awareness raising and campaigning. The map was designed and produced by InTouch GIS using the Storymap app.

A forthcoming report, Aviation expansion in Indonesia: tourism, land struggles, economic zones, and aerotropolis projects, contextualizes the information in GAAM’s online map, examining the central role of aviation expansion in a government drive for tourism growth and the integration of several airport projects with other infrastructure such as road networks and ports, economic zones and aerotropolis developments. The report will be published by GAAM in partnership with the Third World Network (TWN).

Alienation in the AEROTROPOLIS – an independent film from Taiwan

March 31, 2017March 31, 2017 Rose Bridger film, Videos aerotropolis, art, film, Jheng-Neng Li, real estate, Slamdance Film Festival, Taiwan, Taoyuan Aerotropolis, Taoyuan Airport

Although it is a work of fiction, the Taiwanese film AEROTROPOLIS, about a young man who sinks all his money into a luxury condo on land allocated for an aerotropolis around Taoyuan Airport, is all too feasible. The government driven megaproject stalled and the real estate bubble burst. Unable to flip the property for a quick profit he loses his moorings in life and wanders around the desolate urban landscape. His loneliness and loss of meaning are only superficially eased by fleeting visits from his flight-attendant girlfriend and the films follows his descent into a downward spiral of mental breakdown.

The film was written and directed by Jheng-Neng Li. Interviewed by We Are Moving Stories, which celebrates new voices in the film industry, he explains how the Taoyuan aerotropolis project “fiasco” has disrupted the lives of thousands of ordinary people, with agricultural land destroyed, families displaced and escalating land and property prices. AEROTROPOLIS is Jheng-Neng Li’s debut feature film, a true low-budget venture, shot over just 11 days with a “no-budget” of just $7000. In this evocative teaser clip the protagonist is static in an alienating urban landscape as planes fly overhead.

AEROTROPOLIS was showcased at the 2017 Slamdance Film Festival which focuses on new artists and low-budget, independent films and has garnered some enthusiastic reviews. Writing for ScreenAnarchy Christopher Bourne describes the film as ‘an elegantly made portrait of (sub)urban alienation. In Slug Magazine Kathy Zhou is full of praise for ‘a bleak and powerful meditation on the emptiness of contemporary life’. The film is being screened at various film festivals so hopefully will, over time, reach a substantial audience worldwide. There are some reviews and interesting promotion materials on the AEROTROPOLIS film Facebook page.

Challenging tourism growth: the role of aviation and impacts on biodiversity

March 22, 2017 Rose Bridger Tourism aviation, aviation expansion, biodiversity, CBD, Convention on Biological Diversity, COP13, ecotourism, indigenous peoples, petroleum markets, Third World Network, tourism, TWN, UNWTO, World Tourism Organization UNWTO

Tourism was on the agenda at the 13th Meeting of the Conference of Parties (COP13) to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), held in Cancun, Mexico in December 2016. The draft Cancun Declaration recognizes that tourism, a major sector in the global economy, is dependent upon biodiverse ecosystems. A Third World Network (TWN) briefing paper, ‘Tourism at the tipping point: Governance for future generations’, prepared by Alison M. Johnston, Director of the International Support Centre for Sustainable Tourism, Canada, urges a precautionary approach to tourism growth, challenging the institutionalization of the industry as a ‘pre-approved enterprise’ which facilitates its expansion into remote areas, often damaging rather than conserving ecosystems and biodiversity. The paper highlights the role of aviation, the tourism industry’s dependence upon the petroleum industry, the impacts on indigenous peoples and considerations for future generations.

The paper was presented and discussed at a COP side-event entitled ‘Tourism and Biodiversity: Benefits and Hazards’ that was co-organized by the TWN, the Global Forest Coalition, the International Support Centre for Sustainable Tourism (ISCST) and the Tourism Investigation & Monitoring Team (tim-team). This input to the UN biodiversity conference, and other critical perspective on tourism, are particularly important in view of the United Nations designation of 2017 as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development, aiming to support ‘a change in policies, business practices and consumer behavior towards a more sustainable tourism sector’.

A Dutch firm withdrew its application for a project in Istanbul’s 3rd airport construction site

February 24, 2017 Rose Bridger investment Atradius, Both Ends, export credit, investment, Istanbul, Istanbul 3rd airport, Kuzey Ormanları Savunması, Northern Forest Defence, real estate, Turkey

This article is from the Kuzey Ormanlari Savunmasi (Northern Forest Defence) website

For Turkish version see: 3. havalimanı sahasında proje başvurusu yapan Hollandalı firma çekildi

As the Northern Forests Defence, we have been continuously iterating our position that Istanbul’s 3rd airport isn’t a transportation project, but a real estate-construction project that will flood the Northern Forests of Istanbul with cement, which we declared in our announcements and in our 3rd airport report. This fact has also been stated in the environmental assesment report for the project. The gigantic area allocated to the 3rd airport project and also other projects announced by the members of the consortium for the area, are strong evidence of this. As a matter of fact, the 3rd airport project will be showcased under the name of “Airport City” in the world trade show MIPIM 2017, to be held in Cannes between 14-17 March.

The citizens of this country are ignorant of the decisions that will affect the future of the city and their children, as global capital and real estate / construction companies continue their plunder projects in the Northern Forests of Istanbul, the lungs of Istanbul. As citizens of this country we mostly don’t hear about the details nor the locations of such projects, as well as the 3rd airport project, however esteemed architects (!) and global actors, who find it difficult to embark locally on such projects that devastate nature and the environment, and violate the right to live, are in command of all details, since they are very busy preparing project after project for the Northern Forests.

One of these companies is a Dutch real estate-construction company, whose application story you will read below. This company, name and involved project unknown, applied to the well-known credit company Atradius Dutch State Business (ADSB) -which operates on behalf of the Dutch government- in 2016 in order to apply for export credit support for a project related to the Istanbul New Airport Project. Then ADSB contacted NFD in October to obtain information related to the 3rd airport project. When we met with the ADSB officials in Istanbul, we conveyed our position that the 3rd airport would be death of Istanbul and the only acceptable solution would be the cancellation of the project and detailed the permanent damage this project will leave on the local ecosystem, the workplace murders committed in the project, and the lack of transparency. And last month we received the good news: The company, probably due to refusal of its credit application, had announced its withdrawal from the project. ADSB, due to its ethics code, didn’t share the name of the company, nor the character or the location of project, with NFD.

As we announce this positive development, we are also sharing the 6 February 2017 dated press announcement of the Dutch STK Both ENDS, who linked ADSB and NFD – there is additional information about the process in this announcement.

PRESS RELEASE: NO DUTCH PUBLIC SUPPORT FOR ISTANBUL’S CONTROVERSIAL NEW AIRPORT

Turkey is building Istanbul’s third and the world’s biggest airport in the Northern Forest area on the outskirts of the city. The project is strongly opposed by local communities and NGO’s, as it destroys the environment and violates basic human and local community rights.

yeniköy-

On January 27th, Atradius Dutch State Business (ADSB), the Dutch export credit agency, announced that a Dutch company withdrew its application for export credit support for this controversial mega-project.

Local communities, supported by the Turkish civil society organisation Northern Forest Defense (NFD), and their Dutch partner organisations XminY and Both ENDS, are pleased with this development. They hope that the withdrawal will contribute to address public concerns surrounding this mega infrastructure project.

Social and environmental hazards

In August 2016 Atradius DSB, which operates on behalf of the Dutch government, announced on its website that it was considering an application for export credit support for the Istanbul New Airport Project. This project was classified as potentially having high social and environmental risks. Both ENDS shared this information with NFD, which then discussed its concerns about the project with representatives of Atradius DSB during their visit to Istanbul in October 2016.

First step

“As a movement advocating for the protection of the natural environment around Istanbul, we welcome this news” indicates NFD. “In our report about this project from March 2015 we already concluded that the destruction of the Northern Forests of Istanbul has devastating effects. It will affect water basins, lakes, rivers, bird migration, forests and the people living in and around Istanbul. Local communities are faced with forced evictions and displacement. The withdrawal is a good first step, but we will continue our fight against the airport project.”

Fatal accidents and financial risks

Another critical issue NFD points out is the lack of safety measures. Nearly 100 workers have died due to accidents, many of them truck drivers. Thousands of trucks move sand, cement and rubble in and out of the project area day and night. Moreover, NFD raises major questions about both airworthiness (due to meteorological conditions, migratory birds, soil structure) and financial risks of the project. Examining the financial stability of Turkey as a whole and the airport project specifically, the NFD report argues that the airport is not likely to make significant revenues in the near future.

Others might follow

“Although the identity of the Dutch company nor the reason for the applications’ withdrawal were ever disclosed, we assume that NFD’s efforts of sharing concerns with ADSB helped trigger the Dutch exporter to reconsider its involvement in the airport project”, says Niels Hazekamp of Both ENDS. ”Hopefully, the withdrawal of this application for an export credit insurance will motivate other companies to re-evaluate their role in the project as well”.

For more information, please contact Niels Hazekamp:

n.hazekamp@bothends.org

Links:

The FPDT Again Denounces the Intrusion of Machinery with Protection of the Army and Federal Police

January 27, 2017January 27, 2017 Rose Bridger Uncategorized

Bulldozers supported by a military tank and police entered communal Atenco farmland intent on constructing a highway for the new Mexico City Airport, violating the suspension of the project and the human rights of the inhabitants.

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The FPDT Again Denounces the Intrusion of Machinery with Protection of the Army and Federal Police

Today, January 22, crews of workers from the companies CIPSA and Pinfra entered the ejido of Atenco with two bulldozers intent on carrying out the construction of the highway Pirámides-Texcoco. With the protection of a military tank and federal police, the companies again violated the definitive suspension awarded against this project that is part of the new airport of Mexico City. This took place one day after sharing testimony of human rights violations against members of the FDPT and of the habitants of the communities on the Eastern shore of Lake Texcoco with a special reporter of the UN.

The ejido members and habitants of the communities went to the place of intrusion to demand the fulfilment of the suspension and the respect of their human rights. They talked with the workers to…

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Welcome to the Dystopia: “The New Istanbul”

October 25, 2016 Rose Bridger Protest aerotropolis, farmland, forest, Istanbul, Istanbul 3rd airport, KOS, Kuzey Ormanları Savunması, picnic, protest, Turkey, Yeniköy

Originally posted by Kuzey Ormanları Savunması (Northern Forest Defence)

(October 12, 2016)

In order to show the damage inflicted by the 3rd Airport and the kind of future awaiting Istanbul, a group of Northern Forests Defense (KOS) activists picniced at Yeniköy, one of the villages in the 3rd Airport area.

The location of the picnic was Yenikoy meadows. A large portion of the area which used to be as green as grass had been destroyed for the construction of the Airport in less than 2 years. As for husbandry, one of the main economic resources of the village, it had almost come to a halt.

In their written statement about the picnic, KOS activists expressed that in order to attain a liveable Istanbul, Istanbulites need to close ranks and confront all projects that set eye on Northern Forests, first and foremost against the 3rd Airport.

They expressed that the following will ensue in case the 3rd Airport project is completed:

It will destroy millions of trees together with all living beings that live dependent on the regional ecosystem. Villagers who make their livelihood from the area will be displaced.

The airport project area 90% of which comprises lakes and forests will be turned into concrete through the creation of new cities and other construction projects. Istanbul’s already dense population will be multiplied as a result.

New urban heat islands will be created in the area due to deforestation and concretion. Winds that blow from the North and breath life into Istanbul will be blocked.

It will speed up the climate change we have been passing through currently by contributing to the acceleration of carbon emissions generated by the aviation sector.

It will tear apart Istanbul and Northern Forests that have existed together since archaic times from each other. Istanbul will turn into an unsustainable, unliveable dystopia.

The full statement of the picnic event carried out as part of Global Action Week (September 28th- October 8th 2016) against the aviation sector is as follows:

Welcome to the Dystopia “The New Istanbul”

Northern Forests have been the source of life to all living creatures for thousands of years.

In the Northern Forests, with their ancient sand dunes, rich meadows and beautiful ponds in which fish lived, they say that once upon a time there used to be hidden heavens where only migratory birds could land.

And one day, the human, one of the guests of this hidden heaven, fell under the illusion that he could be the master of all creatures. He fattened as he consumed; he consumed as he fattened. As the monuments of arrogance he constructed mushroomed in cities, cities sprawled and started occupying hither and thither.

The place where we came today for the picnic used to intermingle with Northern Forests once but now falls within the area of the 3rd Airport which is being propagated through the construction of a falsehood of ‘development’. The picnic area which used to be as green as grass till two years ago has now been contaminated by human hands; ravaged by construction machines.

Then, what kind of a future awaits us if the 3rd Airport project is completed?

The project will destroy millions of trees together with all living beings that live dependent on the regional ecosystem.

Villagers who make their livelihood from the area will be displaced.

The airport project area 90% of which comprises lakes and forests will turn into concrete through the creation of new cities and other construction projects. Istanbul’s already dense population will be multiplied as a result.

New urban heat islands will be created in the area due to deforestation and concretion. Winds that blow from the North and breath life into Istanbul will be blocked.

The project will speed up the climate change we have been passing through currently by contributing to the acceleration of carbon emissions generated by the aviation sector.

It will tear apart Istanbul and Northern Forests that have existed together since archaic times from each other. Istanbul will turn into an unsustainable, unliveable dystopia.

If we do not struggle against the eco-cide projects planned in the Northern Forests, and first and foremost against the 3rd Airport, our picnic as the representation of dystopia may become the future of Istanbul.

Wishing that all defenders of life close ranks in order to resist against the 3rd Airport project and make our picnic which presented a cross-section from the future of Istanbul NOT possible.

Peña Nieto’s airport in Atenco and Texcoco poses Serious Threat of Flooding

October 13, 2016October 13, 2016 Rose Bridger NAICM Atenco, flooding, Mexico, NAICM, new Mexico City airport, Texcoco

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Peña Nieto’s airport in Atenco and Texcoco poses Serious Threat of Flooding

Flooded communal land in the Ejido Nexquipayac, Atenco. Photo: Sergio Grajales Ventura

By Sergio Grajales Ventura

The construction of the New International Airport of Mexico City (or as known by its initials in Spanish – NAICM) in the towns of Atenco and Texcoco poses a great risk of flooding, not just for the communities in the area, but for all of the eastern part of the Valley of Mexico. Additionally, land subsidence will accelerate, surface run-off will increase and the region’s most important regulatory reservoir, the former Lake Texcoco, would be destroyed.

I. Over-exploitation of water and subsidence

In a previous issues of El Salinero, we reported that in 2001 the Autonomous National University of Mexico’s PUMA programme (the University Programme for the Environment or in Spanish, “Programa Universitario de Medio Ambiente”) predicts that as early as 2020…

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International communique against the New Mexico City Airport

October 5, 2016October 5, 2016 Rose Bridger NAICM FPDT, Indonesia, Lake Texcoco, megaproject, Mexico, NAICM, new Mexico City airport

dorset chiapas solidarity

International communique against the New Mexico City Airport

EMERGENCE OF A BROAD NON-PARTY FRONT AGAINST THE NEW AIRPORT AND OTHER MEGAPROJECTS IN THE VALLEY OF MEXICO BASIN

Mexico City, 4 February 2016

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In response to the announcement by the government of Enrique Peña Nieto to reactivate the construction of a new airport for Mexico City, more than 70 organizations of organized society in the East of the State of Mexico, Hidalgo state, the Federal District and the rest of the country during the Forum “All Voices against New Airport” and the Constituent Assembly on 10 and 11 November 2015 at the Ché Guevara Auditorium located next to the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters of the UNAM, agreed to the creation of a Broad Front with a horizontal and inclusive structure, with an autonomous and self-managed character, whose main objectives are to defend the territory and to prevent the construction…

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Defend the zad – a call for international solidarity October 8th & 9th 2016

October 5, 2016October 5, 2016 Rose Bridger ZAD eviction, France, Nantes new airport, NDDL, protest, ZAD, Zone a Défendre