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PERLAWANAN DI SOMBAR KELAPA: PERLAWANAN PETANI SOGE DI PERKEBUNAN NANGAHALE, FLORES, NUSA TENGGARA TIMUR

ELVAN DE PORRES, Prof. Dr. Paschalis Maria Laksono, M.A.

2022 | Tesis | MAGISTER ANTROPOLOGI

Pada masa Hindia Belanda Nangahale merupakan area pengembangan kapas dari sejumlah perusahaan dagang yang menyingkirkan penduduk Soge dan Goban ke wilayah perbukitan Tana Ai. Karena krisis ekonomi perusahaan-perusahaan itu gulung tikar pada tahun 1917 dan 1924. Perkebunan Nangahale kemudian dijual ke pihak misionaris gereja Katolik yang mengubahnya menjadi perkebunan kelapa. Sejak pengusiran itu penduduk Soge hidup menyebar baik di kaki maupun lereng bukit Tana Ai sejak tahun 1902 hingga dekade 1990an. Sementara itu perusahaan perkebunan kelapa Keuskupan Agung Ende memperoleh Hak Guna Usaha selama dua puluh lima tahun sejak 1989. Pada awal tahun 1990 warga Soge dengan dukungan organisasi masyarakat sipil menuntut pengembalian tanah ulayat Soge yang diambil untuk perkebunan kapas sebelum dijual kepada misionaris itu. Bagaimanapun gerakan masyarakat adat itu baru berlangsung secara masif setelah Reformasi, yaitu ketika sejumlah penduduk Soge datang menempati lahan di lokasi HGU milik Keuskupan Agung Ende. Setelah pertemuan demi pertemuan dengan pemerintah dan gereja dan aksi demonstrasi, gerakan mengalami kriminalisasi selama lebih dari satu dekade hingga kontrak HGU berakhir pada 31 Desember 2013. Sejak tahun 2014 warga Soge, terutama yang berasal dari desa Tuabao, pun ramai-ramai turun dari bukit dan membangun pemukiman serta tinggal menetap di tanah bekas HGU. Akibatnya penduduk Soge pun dilabeli kepala batu oleh pastor kepala perkebunan, yang beroperasi tanpa perpanjangan izin kontrak HGU. Pertanyaannya, bagaimana strategi sebagian penduduk Soge itu berhadapan dengan perusahaan kelapa ataupun gereja? Kenapa mereka masih mau bertahan hidup di situ meski aktivitas keseharian mereka senantiasa dipantau? Lantas, apakah mereka tinggal diam? Tesis ini hendak menjawab persoalan-persoalan ini dengan mengurai konteks historis penguasaan tanah, yaitu relasi gereja Katolik dengan pemerintah dari waktu ke waktu, termasuk kontestasi kekuasaan pada umumnya di Flores. Metode pengumpulan data dilakukan dengan observasi berpartisipasi secara semi-terstruktur. Pemetaan isu juga dilakukan melalui penelusuran data sejarah dan studi literatur, yaitu menelusuri artikel, berita surat kabar, majalah, jurnal, dan buku-buku di perpustakaan.

During the Dutch East Indies period, Nangahale was a cotton growing area of a number of trading companies that pushed the people of Soge and Goban to the hilly areas of Tana Ai. Due to the economic crisis the companies went out of business in 1917 and 1924. The Nangahale plantation was then sold to Catholic church missionaries who turned it into a coconut plantation. Since the expulsion, the people of Soge have lived scattered both at the foot and on the hillsides of Tana Ai from 1902 to the 1990s. Meanwhile, the coconut plantation company of the Archdiocese of Ende obtained a twenty-five-year Cultivation Right from 1989. In the early 1990s the people of Soge with the support of civil society organizations demanded the return of Soge's customary land which had been taken for cotton plantations before being sold to the missionaries. However, the indigenous people's movement took place on a massive scale after the Reformation, when a number of Soge residents came to occupy the land in the HGU location belonging to the Archdiocese of Ende. After meeting after meeting with the government and the church and demonstrations, the movement was criminalized for more than a decade until the HGU contract expired on December 31, 2013. Since 2014 Soge residents, especially those from Tuabao village, have been busy descending from the hills and build settlements and live permanently on the land of the former HGU. As a result, the residents of Soge were labeled by the pastor of the plantation head, who operated without an extension of the HGU contract permit. The question is, what is the strategy of some Soge residents to deal with coconut companies or churches? Why do they still want to survive there even though their daily activities are constantly monitored? So, do they stay silent? This thesis aims to answer these questions by describing the historical context of land tenure, namely the relationship between the Catholic church and the government from time to time, including the contestation of power in general in Flores. The method of data collection was done by participating in semi-structured observation. Mapping of issues is also carried out by tracing historical data through literature studies, namely tracing articles, news newspapers, magazines, journals, and books in libraries.

Kata Kunci : Nangahale, Perkebunan Kelapa, Penguasaan Tanah, Resistensi, Gereja Katolik/Nangahale, Coconut Plantation, Land Tenure, Resistance, Catholic Church

  1. S2-2022-449308-abstract.pdf  
  2. S2-2022-449308-bibliography.pdf  
  3. S2-2022-449308-tableofcontent.pdf  
  4. S2-2022-449308-title.pdf