Corporate greed over rights: The hidden costs of Merauke’s National Project

Jakarta, 22 September 2025

Yayasan Pusaka Bentala Rakyat has issued a statement condemning the Merauke National Strategic Project (PSN), alleging it has accelerated large-scale land acquisition and forest conversion in South Papua at the expense of Indigenous rights and the environment.

According to Pusaka, the Merauke PSN has already cleared more than 19,000 hectares of forest between 2024 and August 2025, leading to loss of food sources, traditional livelihoods, and destruction of high-value ecosystems. The organization warns that total concessions linked to the project cover over 560,000 hectares (more than three times the size of Greater London).

Pusaka highlights that companies developing sugarcane and bioethanol plantations in Merauke, including PT Global Papua Abadi and PT Murni Nusantara Mandiri, have obtained indigenous lands through coercive practices, offering compensation of only Rp. 300,000 per hectare (around USD 18).

Pusaka further alleges that these companies, along with other plantation firms in the region, are linked to the Fangiono family, the beneficial owners of RSPO Member First Resources, who control palm oil concessions exceeding 300,000 hectares across Indonesia.

Pusaka argues that this concentration of land in the hands of a few powerful business interests exemplifies what it calls “serakahnomics”, an economic model of greed that undermines constitutional limits on land control.

Pusaka is calling on the Indonesian government to halt further permits for large-scale land release and extractive projects in Merauke, to review the PSN, and to respect indigenous peoples’ rights in line with national law and international human rights obligations.