Category: News From The Field

This year the summer starts from late April or early May, the Drought season will be in August and September. In several places in Indonesia there has been a drought and lack of water discharge, almost never raining during July.

In Cibening village, well water has been reduced, enough for bathing and washing. For cooking they must take clean water from a spring in other village.
Goldteak plantation still has springs and wells that can be used for washing and bathing, for drinking water, Zaini, the site manager brings drinking water from Cicurug village.
The dry season is always longer in Cibening village, but people are used to overcoming water problems.

Teak trees appear to have begun to molt, the soil is covered by dry leaves. Goldteak plantation still looks green on the hill. Nature has its own law, when the season comes the nature will follow and adjust.

“ Climate is what we expect, weather is what we get.” (Mark Twain)

There are some guardians who have been working on the Goldteak since it opened the plantation in 2007. Up to present, they still work regularly together with other guardians who joined Goldteak later.

There are many reasons why people are loyal with the company they work for, but the main thing is because they are aware that the company gives them their rights; regular income and they always receive on time , BPJS national medical insurance and birth allowance for 2 children, Hari Raya allowance and housing for those who are willing to stay in the plantation, they also get working equipment. The company also give special attention to their children’s education.

Being valued and belonging is a strong bond between workers and owner and mutual respect makes the relationship stronger.

“As workers who tend a fig tree are allowed to eat the fruit, so workers who protect their employer’s interests will be rewarded” (Brian Mininger.com)

The site manager, Zaini, always drives a pickup truck to Kebun., and when passing through Cibening village, the children always follow his car to go up the hill to Kebun.

What attracts children’s attention to Kebun? The beautiful scenery and fresh air make them happy to play there, the sound of birds and frogs make them cheerful. The children like to see Parid’s goats, chickens and ducks, sometimes they feed them.
They also see many fruit trees are flowering and fruitful. They find many vegetable crops like chili, tomato, cucumber, eggplant, pumpkin and string bean.

The environment in Kebun is different from the village, the tree canopies move beautifully every time the wind blows the trees.
Although children do not yet understand about economic values but they understand that Kebun is green, beautiful and peaceful.

Every time the children play in Kebun, they are exited and curios about new things which appears in Kebun. Kebun with trees have made the young children live with hope, joy and good future. Their songs, their steps and their laughs have been coloring Cibening village. Zaini never forget to bring candy and Parid’s wife always give them fried banana or boiled sweet potato.

“Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree along time ago” (Warren Buffett)

Starting this March the workers get a 25% salary increase, of course they are very happy. Cibening Village is not big, but since electricity entered the village, many changes have occurred with the local community. Many people already have television, refrigerators, mobile phones and motorcycles.

The basic needs of food (including water), shelter and clothing now is not enough. People now also need sanitation, education and health care. So when the workers got a raise, it meant a lot for them.

Goldteak workers are lucky compared to the surrounding community who rely on agricultural land for planting cassava and banana. Sometimes they have to work on somebody’s rice field to get some money as farming labors. But not for Goldteak workers who receive monthly salary so they can manage their income wisely.

Rain still fall in Cibening village, the road is better because it was repaired by the community and used local government’s budget.

The road around the teak plantation is broken because rain water also erodes the soil, and the stones rolled down. The road becomes slippery and difficult to reach the plantation.

After helping the villagers to repair the road, workers are now fixing the road in the plantation. They started picking up the stones from uphill and crushed them then they put on the bold road. So now, the road can be used for two or four wheel drive. Zaini, the site manager, can drive his car to the plantation.

The workers also made a hedge to retain the soil from erosion. They use bamboo, other plants which can be used are Vetiver grass (fragrance roots) and Calliandra trees.

During January, it rained a lot in Cibening village, the road is broken and there were land slides in several areas. The local government and the community worked together to fix the road. With the fund from BNBP (National Board of Disaster Management) 68 Million Rupiah, the people fixed the road together hand in hand.

Rainy season has not ended yet, but the road is better now. People can use the road to ride their motorbikes and mini trucks to bring the crops to the market. There are some critical areas still need to be fixed too, but waiting the support from government.

The soil is clay with sand that is easily carried by rain water, there are no big trees beside the road which can protect it from land slides. On the right side of the road, the land is higher than the road and it is a paddy field and on the left side of the road, the land is lower and people plant the cassava on it.

Waiting the government’s support will take time, the road to the village is already broken in
some areas. Cibening people and some of Goldteak’s workers worked together to repair the
road. If they did not repair the road, the damage will be bigger and wider and they can not ride
or drive the vehicles.

Bamboo is easy to get and not necessary to buy, we can find easily near the teak plantation, it is
used to hold the land from erosion. Bamboo does not stand for long time, but at least people
can pass the road during the rainy season. People can ride and drive their vehicles to or from
the village.

The road is almost 4 Km long, it has been broken for several times, people often repaired it by
giving more sand, stones and sometimes it was cemented in critical area. But when the rainy
season comes, the road is broken again because of land slide or the soil is away by the water.
People always worked together with Goldteak guardians to repair it before the local
government come to help.

Since last month, rain falls almost everyday in Cibening village, morning,
afternoon, evening, all day or all night. Rain water is abundant, all wells are
full with water. New leaves make trees green again, now we can see
Goldteak plantation is green.

There will be a land slide when it rains continuously, water from up hill will
bring the soil away. The road to the village is not good, has no cover, only
rocks and stones. It is easily broken when the road can not hold the water.

People and some of the guardians will work together to repair the road with
bamboo to hold the side road not to slide, until government repair it through
National Agency for Disaster Management program.

Rain has been falling for several days in the end of October, but it made a good impact to the people in the Cibening village. The wells are full of water, although for drinking water they have to take it from the water spring. This situation makes people happy, because they can do bathing and washing easily and also the village looks green.

For the last two months, the local government gave the fund to fix the road but it could not fix all of the road. Some part of the road are still broken, covered with clay and it is slippery and difficult to ride and drive on.