Images from Indonesia – Miners document life in lockdown

By Richard Gutierrez - April 23, 2020

Posted in: Categories COVID-19 Tagged as: Tags Indonesia

The COVID-19 virus has spread to all of Indonesia’s 34 provinces, including North Sulawesi where the Artisanal Gold Council has two project areas working with artisanal miners. The photos below – some taken by AGC staff and some by miners themselves – show the changes that have overtaken their lives since the district and village governments began implementing social distancing, quarantines and lockdowns.

The COVID-19 Shock:  “The ASGM situation in Indonesia has remained largely stable as the country braces for the expected spike in confirmed cases of COVID-19 and its accompanying quarantine and travel restrictions. Gold prices in the field remained steady for the past 3 weeks. We are beginning to see a glimpse, however, of what the initial COVID-19 shock will look like in various ASGM communities.”

Roadblocks: “These suddenly came up last week as each village began to block entry into their area. This has disrupted movement to and from the facility and mineral processing operations in Tatelu, North Sulawesi.”

Village roadblock in Tatelu, North Sulawesi. The sign reads: “Order of the Village Government, We apologize for the inconvenience, please find another route.”

The First Local Case: “Last week, a confirmed case of COVID-19 was detected in the village of Talawaan, a village adjacent to Tatelu where AGC’s project facility is located. The village government of Talawaan and local residents immediately barricaded all access roads to Talawaan, effectively choking access to Tatelu. While transportation was still available, access to Tatelu became very difficult. Travellers ran the gamut of checkpoints, inspections, and the heated requests from worried residents to turn back, making entry to Tatelu village nearly impossible for non-community members. Formal buyers no longer have access to the village, and most miners are now beginning to sell their gold to local traders who live in the village.”

Roadblock Tatelu, North Sulawesi, Indonesia

Community Reaction: ” The local mining cooperative in Tatelu has prohibited miners living outside the village from working in Tatelu, as a precaution. The move has effectively cut 40% of the cooperative’s workforce and placed the non-Tatelu miners without income for the foreseeable future.”

Masks and supplies: Part of the AGC project’s outreach to the mining community in Tatelu and Tobongon, North Sulawesi where our facilities are located. “There were no social distancing regulations in place in the area. The AGC mobilized a women’s cooperative it had helped organize through its PERS project to distribute cloth face masks (surgical masks and hand sanitizers were no longer available) to visitors and community members to help raise awareness about the virus and how the virus is spreading.”

A member of the Kooperasi Pemasaran Serba Usaha Bulawan Sejahtera Tobongon in collaboration with the AGC through its PERS project, handing over a cloth mask to a community member in Tobongon, North Sulawesi.

Ongoing Monitoring:The AGC and its local partners Yayasan Emas Artisanal Indonesia and Lentera Kartini are continuing to monitor the situation in the AGC project areas in North Sulawesi and Central Kalimantan as well as other ASGM areas in Indonesia.

A member of the Kooperasi Pemasaran Serba Usaha Matuari Mandiri Tatelu in collaboration with the AGC through its PERS project, distributing a package of cloth masks to a community leader in Tatelu, North Sulawesi.