The long fight ends well, but the war hasn't over yet. Meratus is still threatened.

Hi, glad to see you again as I continue my story about the same poetry, Piluku Meratus.

Previously I've talked about the background location of the poem. About Meratus mountains in Kalimantan Selatan (Indonesian Borneo) and some threats of its existence. If you are new to my blog, part one is here.

Today, It'll be about the first four verses of the poem. That leaves two more verses for part three...hehehe..

Recently, a mining operation permit of PT. Mantimin Coal Mining is revoked by the Supreme Court. It was Walhi Kalimantan Selatan that sued the permit in 2018. It was for coal mining operation in Hulu Sungai Tengah, Tabalong and Balangan regencies. The long fight ends well, but the war hasn't over yet. Meratus is still threatened.

As we talked, post flood recovery is taking place in Kalimantan Selatan. Mid January 2021, big flood hit the area and affected thousands of people in 11 of the 13 regions of the province.

Meratus mountains spreads in 8 of the 11 regions affected by the flood namely Tabalong, Balangan, Hulu Sungai Utara, Hulu Sungai Tengah, HUlu Sungai Selatan, Tapin, Banjar, dan Tanah Laut. I believe the main cause of the flood is the massive deforestation continuosly taking place in Meratus mountains, the upstream area of the province.

Talking about deforestation, it happens both at the upstream -the rainforest- and in the lowland -peatland/swamp forest. But I'll talk about peatland later on as we're focusing on Meratus at the moment.