Kabar Itah

Edition 30 : October - December 2011

Editorial Some Spice from the 2011 Annual Review

Entering a new year is always
interesting, because so many things
are unknown.
2011 was largely a time of preparation
for expanded activities in all our
projects, and for the start up of some
new ones – one project in East
Kalimantan and the other with the
government in Gunung Mas District.
The big news was the two joint
venture agreements that Kalimantan
Gold signed at the beginning of
the year. These enabled us to hire
new staff and expand some of the
community support we have been
providing.
In addition to those, our mercury
project partner the Blacksmith Institute Dino (l) from the Training Unit and Vita (c) and Horma (r) from the Media Unit have fun discussing expectations between
the two groups, during the YTS annual review in Rungan Sari
obtained additional funding from the
UN Environment Program, which will
enable us to codify our experiences in This past December during the One the morning of the second day,
battling the release of toxic mercury 2011 Annual Review gathering, Ridwan Lowther, the Operations
into the environment. there were several activities that Manager from PT KSK, gave an
were out of the mainstream and encouraging presentation on what
And then, the Ford Foundation that provided some intellectual and the company was getting ready to
provided funding for us to work emotional stimulation. embark upon with its exploration
directly with the way local government
handles budgeting and planning for First, we had an intriguing activities. It’s always useful for
community programs and services, a presentation on the history and us in YTS to understand what
totally new arena for us. pre-history of YTS, and the main the company is planning to do,
factors that led to it becoming the because it has a strong impact on
All of these initiatives barely got kind of NGO that it is today. One of our work and interactions with local
started in 2011, so we know that these factors was the convergence people and others in government.
2012 will bring enormous pressures of values that contributed to the
to perform. We therefore ask you for formation of YTS, and in later The day ended off with a
your prayers and blessings as we years to the shaping of the overall presentation from Dewi Elyana,
plunge into the fray. the new local representative
objectives and programs. One set
Hopefully, we will be a lot wiser by the of values flowed from the founders for UNORCID, which is the UN
end of the year. from Kalimantan Gold who wanted Office for REDD+ Coordination in
to ensure local people benefited Indonesia, in which she explained
from a future mine, and the other the coordinating function of her
Very warm wishes to everyone, from the participation movement office. We hope to become a more
that arose in the late 1980s in India. active participant in the REDD+
Bardolf Paul
After this interactive presentation agenda in Kalimantan in 2012, as
Executive Director
we watched a highly stimulating many of our communities are close
animated video on ‘empathy’. to large areas of natural forest.
Support for Micro Enterprises
In 2011, as a result of generous
funding from the Ford Foundation,
YTS was able to forge a working
relationship with the local Credit
Union Betang Asi and create an
innovative new training program. The
aim of the program was to provide
financial services and financial
management training to the seven
communities of Bukit Batu.
In addition to linking the communities
to the Credit Union directly, the
enterprise skills training program
was aimed at building up the
capacity of the existing village
management groups and livelihood
interest groups to manage their own
small enterprises, such as fish or
chicken farms.
Early in the year, YTS provided an
initial training to our Village Man- The final step in the Micro Enterprise training program enables villagers from Banturung to develop business plans and gain access to
markets and to technical and financial assistance
agement Groups, after which they
carried out in-depth financial analysis
of their own household incomes and spending patterns. The invited to form livelihood interest groups and receive further
management groups then promoted our new program to training in micro-enterprise management directly from YTS.
the community and invited them to attend a basic training in Due to a high level of interest from the community, more
household financial management skills. of these basic training events had to be scheduled than
In April, we began holding these two-day events in each anticipated, so that by the end of 2011, a total of eleven such
community, with two local trainers from the Credit Union. events had been held. As a result, 130 participants opened
This training helped community members to understand new savings accounts with the Credit Union. The new
how to better manage their household finances, with a focus members will now be able to access other financial services,
on savings. Those who fully completed the two-day training such as small loans and insurance. As there is ongoing
became eligible to join the Credit Union. They were also demand, YTS will facilitate many more of these events in
Bukit Batu in 2012.
The YTS micro-enterprise training program followed on
Dialogue on Extractives for from this, and was delivered as three separate one-day
Development (E4D) training events in each of the nine village locations. The
YTS program was designed to build financial awareness
In Jakarta in late October, YTS took part in a workshop and business management skills, and aimed to help the
with 20 others, the majority of whom were from members develop business plans and get better access
The World Bank. The theme was ‘Extractives for to markets and financial and technical assistance. Thus,
Development (E4D)’. this training program was complementary to the technical
Billed as a ‘Regional Knowledge and Learning support provided by YTS in 2010.
Dialogue’, the event focused on regional experiences
of the extractive sector – oil, gas and mining, in the During these training sessions, our YTS facilitators worked
development agenda in the East Asia and Pacific region. alongside an experienced micro-enterprise trainer from Java.
He designed each of the three training levels to build on the
Four items were discussed: knowledge provided in the previous training sessions. The
1) Where is the E4D agenda heading? Stakeholder first module, delivered in July, provided motivational training
perspectives and examined how to choose an appropriate business, and
2) What are the most pressing knowledge gaps? how to analyze opportunities and risks. The second session,
Country experiences held in September, developed financial management
3) Building a platform for E4D knowledge skills, focusing especially on the use of a Cash Book. In
4) Building effective partnerships for E4D engagement November, we held a third training session which focused on
Marketing.
Our experience working at community and district
level was completely unique and provided some very Together, the training programs provided by CU and YTS
useful inputs for the knowledge base that the Bank aimed to change the way that households manage their
was developing, particularly on the need for early income, conduct transactions, keep business records, and
engagement with communities and local government, save their profits. Participants have a better understanding
and building strong partnerships with these two of how to build working capital, make financial projections
constituencies. and monitor cash-flow. They also learned more about local
markets, and how to reduce their risk-exposure.

2 Kabar Itah - Edition 30

Tackling Toxics First National Workshop on
Mercury in Indonesia
Following on directly from the fieldwork,
our team travelled to Jakarta to present our
technologies at the First National Workshop
on Mercury in ASGM; held in Jakarta on 13
December 2011. As Indonesia has committed
to ratify a legally-binding treaty to regulate
mercury, the Government of Indonesia must
now create a Draft National Strategic Plan
to deal with the issue. The first national
workshop was a kick-off event that we hope
will lead towards the creation of such a plan.
First, the Blacksmith Institute presented the
results of their national inventory of small-
scale gold mining sites. Blacksmith started a
field assessment of toxic sites in Indonesia
in 2009. Their database shows that mercury
is a key pollutant in Indonesia, with 500,000
Peter Appel (l) from Denmark and Leoncio Na-Oy (c) from the Philippines conduct research with small scale gold
people at risk from contamination.
processors in Mt Muro on replacing mercury with borax in the refining process
This was followed by a presentation from
Over the last five years, YTS has been seeking simple solutions to the Department of Environment showing the
the growing threat of mercury pollution from small scale gold mining. existing regulatory framework and an outline
In 2006, we designed a cheap and effective mercury condenser for the development of a national strategic
system for use in gold shops; one that has great potential to reduce plan.
the dangerous levels of mercury emissions that currently exist in many There was also an excellent presentation on
Indonesian towns and villages wherever gold amalgam is traded. the Borax Method, given by Peter W.U. Appel
Since then, in addition to distributing retorts directly to artisanal miners, from the Geological Survey of Denmark &
we have also been installing this condenser equipment in gold shops Greenland (GEUS). The Borax Method is
throughout Central Kalimantan. a mercury-free method for gold extraction
Next year, we intend to start training others to conduct these interven- that is used by 15,000 gold miners in the
tions. We will conduct training-of-trainers based on our successful Philippines. We hope to collaborate further
models, so that other organizations may also start to conduct these with GEUS in 2012, in order to spread this
necessary interventions in other parts of Indonesia. We will also be method more widely in Indonesia.
creating a technical information package for government and other Lastly, Sumali Agrawal presented various
stakeholders. Environmental mercury contamination now poses a technical approaches to reducing mercury
serious risk to human health worldwide, thus the benefits from having emissions based on the fieldwork YTS has
more widespread adoption of this simple technology can be enormous. been conducting in Central Kalimantan since
Furthermore, thanks to fresh donor support from the USEPA-UNEP- 2007. The event was attended by a wide
Global Mercury Partnership, we are now seeking to demonstrate that variety of government departments, with
it is possible to eliminate the need for mercury in hard-rock mining. We representatives from the national, provincial,
are conducting action-research in the field to see if we can prevent and district levels.
mercury from being used in grinding mills; and we are introducing
gravity concentration to ore-processors, as an alternative gold-
extraction technique.
Importantly, we soon hope to also introduce a mercury-free method for
treating concentrates: the ‘Borax Method’ has been used successfully
by 15,000 small-scale miners for more than 30 years, but has never
spread beyond one region of the Philippines. We hope to be able to
demonstrate this method to hard-rock miners at Mt Muro by the end of
the year.
It is our belief that artisanal gold miners can turn away from using
mercury - and switch to alternative processing methods - without
suffering any loss to their income. In fact, given the major loss of gold
that accompanies the loss of mercury, we believe that incomes will
improve as a result.
The truth of this can only be established by working hand-in-hand with
the artisanal mining communities concerned; in the hope that we may
The extensive use of mercury in gold mining is creating the potential for
be able to demonstrate viable alternatives. a large-scale environmental and health disaster throughout Indonesia

3 Kabar Itah - Edition 30

Two new villages join the YTS family
In October and November 2011, two new villages - Tumbang
Koroi and Batu Tangkui each went through an intensive four-
day process of community-led analysis and planning – CLAP
for short.
In Tumbang Koroi, the evening meetings were very well
attended and villagers participated actively, especially the
women, youth, and many children. Elderly people were
particularly active.
Tumbang Koroi is nicely laid out, with neat housing and a
clean water supply that comes directly from the mountain.
Villagers built the water system themselves. The village is
safe and has a rich variety of fruit trees. A giant pepper tree
stands taller than all the houses. Another unique feature is a
very tall flagpole made of ironwood that is hundreds of years
old. It apparently is a legacy from the Japanese occupation.
Villagers were very positive about the presence of YTS,
although a few were suspicious that YTS wanted to take
Women in Batu Tangkui were particularly active in mapping resource use and infrastructure during the recent analysis
and planning exercise
Participatory Analysis and Planning in a Palm Oil Estate
In December, YTS facilitated a participatory planning
and analysis activity in the Dayak village of Tumbang
Kaminting, in collaboration with PT. Agro Wana Lestari, a
subsidiary of the Good Hope palm oil group. The activity
was led by two YTS staff and one staff person from PT.
AWL. The process ran very well, as a result of good
collaboration between the village government and the
nine local facilitators that YTS trained.
Twelve analytical tools were used during the process: the
Village Walk, Village History, Trend Analysis, Seasonal
Calendar, Village Map, Land Use Map, Wealth Ranking,
Social Map, Transect, Institutional Analysis, Economic
Matrix, and Household Analysis. Each evening there was
a community gathering to review the day’s outputs, with
a final gathering to consolidate the data, set priorities
for a Village Development Plan, and elect a Village
Management Group to represent everyone’s interests in
the future.
Many of the participants said that the results of the CLAP
helped them to better know and understand the present
4 Kabar Itah - Edition 30
away the area’s natural wealth.
Most residents originally came from another area close
by. That village was hit by an epidemic called ‘benes’ that
caused fever and many deaths. This was what made them
move to the current location.
The situation in Batu Tangkui was different. Public
participation was somewhat less enthusiastic for several
reasons. In the first place, the community has good road
access to the subdistrict town of Tumbang Miri and many
villagers are running businesses there. Secondly, because
of their business involvement, villagers have been exposed
to a lot of outsiders, so did not see the YTS presence in the
village as something new and intriguing.
Despite this, participation was good. Women were very
active in mapping land use and infrastructure. They provided
important information on boundaries and land ownership.
There are issues regarding the boundary between the
community and the palm oil company, and
villagers were hoping YTS could help them
resolve this dispute.
Elderly people took an active part in
recounting and analysing the village history.
They happily told stories from earlier times,
remembered many important incidents and
events from those days.
An impressive thing happened during the final
evening gathering in Batu Tangkui: villagers
composed a special song for YTS and sang
it in Karungut style. Because many children
were allowed to play outside, the occasion
attracted people’s attention. To cap off the
evening, YTS showed several videos about
its activities and those of the exploration
company, PT Kalimantan Surya Kencana. This
proved a fitting way to end the four-days of
close companionship.
condition of their village. For instance, in the institutional
analysis, the village government had a close look at
how each organisation performs its duties and functions.
They got a better understanding of how each institution
builds a relationship with the villagers, as well as some of
the internal weaknesses of each institution. In addition,
the results of the household analysis, especially the
household finances, made many people realize that it is
important to make financial records and try to balance
household income and expenses.
The Land Use Analysis mapped the current status of
the village land and natural resources, and raised some
concerns among the community. It showed that most of
the village land had already been sold to the company for
palm oil production, and how this had severely restricted
the area available for farming and hunting.
YTS plans to follow-up by facilitating the village-level
Musrenbang; finalizing the village development plan for
2012; and training the VMG in organizational, financial,
and administration skills.
Reflecting Back, Moving Forward
We started the review in the 19
Kahayan villages in the first week
of December. The process ran
over three days, with the YTS field
teams working simultaneously in
all three subdistricts. In Bukit Batu
subdistrict close to Palangka Raya,
the review process started a week
later. Villagers, village institution
members, and Government officials
come to these gatherings to discuss
issues, and to provide feedback and
suggestions for improving the quality
of YTS services and performance.
A special section of the meeting was
dedicated to discussing how villagers
felt about the Musrenbang process
and their involvement in it. In most
cases, villagers felt satisfied and
asked YTS to continue its support to
them. On the other hand, most people
are disappointed in how government
During the Annual Review at subdistrict level, the Head of the Village Management Group from Penda Rangas, Yepso, expressed
officials conduct the process,
his wish for YTS to continue to support their involvement in the government planning process particularly the poor response to their
proposals for government funding.
In November, as we approached our year end, all our staff In discussing support from YTS for livelihood activities,
were actively involved in reviewing and assessing each of villagers generally felt satisfied and look forward to
our field programs. working with YTS again in the coming year. Some Village
Management Groups requested assistance to improve
It is essential for us to have a clear picture of how the
their group management skills. In 2011, there were a
activities have been running throughout the year, not lot changes in the YTS team, as well as in the village
only from the field team’s perspective, but also from the government structure in some villages. This has affected
perspective of the villagers and government officials we are the relationship with YTS in these villages, and in order to
working with. Accordingly, we hold annual review sessions keep activities running properly, YTS needs to strengthen
in all the rural and urban villages we work in. This review its communication and coordination efforts.
starts in each village, with everyone in the community With exploration activities likely to intensify in the coming
invited to attend. It then finishes in a collective session at year, it is likely that YTS and the villages will face greater
subdistrict level that brings together colleagues from each challenges. We therefore hope that the results from the
community in that subdistrict. Usually seven villages take reviews will ensure that everyone’s needs will be properly
part in each subdistrict. addressed in the coming year.

One Small Step Forward for YTS

At the start of December, YTS held a multi-stakeholder
workshop in Kuala Kurun, in partnership with the
Yansiterson, Head of District Planning in Gunung Mas,
stated his support for the YTS project to make planning (Musrenbang).
and budgeting more responsive to community needs
It was encouraging to see that the event received the
support of both government planners and civil society.
government In particular, Mr. Yansiterson, Chairman of the regional
of Gunung development committee (Bapeda) made a very positive
Mas district. opening remark during the focus group discussions:
This workshop
“As the Head of Bapeda, I support this cooperation
on district
with YTS. So please do not hesitate to submit your
governance
recommendations to me, so that we can improve our
provided an
performance in planning and budgeting for the district of
opportunity for
Gunung Mas. Myself, and all of the leaders here welcome
participants to
your input with open arms…”
openly assess the
need to improve His statement has generally inspired the YTS team to
the quality of the work harder to ensure that this three-year program will run
district’s annual optimally until 2013; and that the donor support we have
planning forum received from the Ford Foundation will eventually succeed
in bringing about better governance for the district.

5 Kabar Itah - Edition 30

Village Profile: Tumbang Tahai
The village of Tumbang Tahai has the largest area of all seven urban villages in Bukit Batu subdistrict. Established in
1935, the village has a total area of 420 km2 and is accessible by road from Palangka Raya, which is about 29 km away.
Since 2009, YTS has been assisting 80 people in two Livelihood Groups with their chicken and fish farming livelihood
activities. The village itself has 579 households of various ethnicities, such as Dayak, Javanese, Madurese, and
Banjarese. Each ethnic group is clustered in a separate area - in Sidomulyo, Pembataan, and KM23, where the majority
of the population is Javanese.
Despite the dense population and large area, the infrastructure condition in the village is still poor. Only the main road has
asphalt. All other roads within the settlement still need improvement. Bridges are made of local materials, and are either
broken or in a bad state. The village does however have a big development potential. It is a great location for Orang Utan
conservation, with both rivers and lakes.
Most of the population makes its living producing bricks, using locally-available resources. Tahai has been supplying
bricks to the local area for quite some time now. Nevertheless, villagers, particularly women, are interested in improving
their livelihoods by working with other resources. YTS, therefore, has been providing assistance to improve livelihood
activities that make use of locally available resources.

SDI Indonesia Gathering

The Susila Dharma Indonesia (SDI)

gathering in Cipanas, 18-20 November,
aimed to improve the relationship
between SDI and its members
by strengthening contacts and
enhancing two-way communications;
understanding members’ needs and
expectations: and making an action
and follow-up plan. Twenty-three
people attended the gathering, and
each participant made a presentation
of their organisation, describing its
programs and the problems arising. At
the end of the session, the participants
agre ed to meet twice a year, and for
each organisation to submit an activity
Tumbang Tahai, an urban village close to Palangka Raya, has only one short stretch of paved road in the entire 579 house- report every three months to SDI.
hold village; the majority of the road network is in very poor condition

News Flash Agenda

January
Welcoming all new staff: Musrenbang in villages
A very warm welcome to new staff members Dian Anggraeni, Hendra, Annalisa, Government planning & budgeting process
Willem Molle, and sad farewells to Maria, Desi Wulandari and Jhonly. We wish workshop
everyone well in their new positions. Kahayan Village Management Group training
Biochar project start up
Another Round of Musrenbang Jelai project start up

YTS has embarked on the new round of Musrenbang planning for the next February
three months. January sees field staff assisting each village with its plan, and Musrenbang in subdistrict
will facilitate their involvement in February in the subdistrict planning session. In Jelai Village Management Group training
March, they will accompany village Bukit Batu Credit Union training
Mercury workshop in Malang & Lombok
Bukit Batu Livelihood Groups Visit YUM Biochar Pilot Project March
In February, livelihood groups from the seven urban villages in Bukit Batu Musrenbang in district
subdistrict will visit the Biochar pilot project site of Yayasan Usaha Mulia (YUM). Health seminar on mercury
Participants were identified earlier in 2011, and the groups will form in January Japanese student field trip on mercury
2012. Villagers will learn about Biochar production and look into different business Technical expert visits to villages
opportunities. Romang community development planning

Kabar Itah
Jelai Re-Start Looks Promising Kabar Itah is the quarterly newsletter of Yayasan Tambuhak Sinta
(YTS), an affiliate of PT. Kalimantan Surya Kencana (KSK),
The new team of Annaliza and Willem Molle will restart the community develop- a mineral exploration company.

ment program in three communities in Jelai in early January. This will co-incide Published by:
Yayasan Tambuhak Sinta
Bank Accounts:
Yayasan Tambuhak Sinta
with the resumption of gold exploration activities close by in the concession of PT Jl. Badak VII No. 2 Bukit Tunggal
Palangka Raya 73112
BNI 1946
Palangka Raya Branch
Jelai Cahaya Minerals. Initial indications are that the communities are very happy Kalimantan Tengah-Indonesia Central Kalimantan

to hear that YTS is resuming its program of activities. Telp. +62 (0536) 3237184
Fax. +62 (0536) 3229187
INDONESIA
Number 0114981608
Email:tambuhaksinta@gmail.com Swift: BNINIDJA
Website: www.tambuhaksinta.com

6 Kabar Itah - Edition 30