KKI WARSI together with the Tebo KolaborAksi community held a Cultural Discussion activity with the Tebo Regent Candidate pairs for the 2025-2030 period. This event was held on September 21, 2024. This discussion raised the theme "Advancement of Culture and Indigenous Communities in Inclusive and Sustainable Development Policies". This activity was held with the support of the Estungkara Program through PARTNERSHIP and the INKLUSI Program. Taking place at the Alya Muara Tebo Hotel, it was also attended by Tebo OPD, Mass Organizations, OKP, Student Organizations, students, media, traditional leaders, and representatives of the Orang Rimba and Talang Mamak Indigenous Communities.
Oni Suryono, who is usually called Kang Oni as the Head of KolaborAKsi Tebo, began by delivering his remarks as the head of the organizing committee. The agenda of this discussion was held with the intention of strengthening the discourse on culture and indigenous peoples in the regional election process in Tebo Regency. With the hope that the Regent Candidates can pay attention in their programs related to cultural and indigenous peoples issues in Tebo Regency.
"This forum is not for debate, but rather to explore the ideas of the Tebo Regent candidates on cultural and indigenous peoples issues in inclusive and sustainable development," he added.
The discussion was opened directly by Ade Candra as the leader of KKI WARSI. In his speech, Ade said that Tebo Regency still has homework related to policies in providing protection through policies for residents. Especially indigenous communities such as Orang Rimba and Talang Mamak, which are quite numerous.
"We hope that this cultural and indigenous community discussion will be a moment to pick up the ideas of the candidate pairs for Regent in Tebo Regency," said Ade in his opening remarks.
This sarashen was attended by Nazar Efendi, a candidate for Deputy Regent who is paired with Agus Rubiyanto as a candidate for Regent. Meanwhile, from other candidates, H. Aspan, a candidate for Regent, was also present. Other speakers were also present from traditional figures in Tebo Regency and representatives of KKI WARSI. On this occasion, KKI WARSI shared its experience in assisting the Talang Mamak and Orang Rimba indigenous communities in the Bukit Tiga Puluh area.
Haryanto, a resource person from KKI Warsi emphasized the importance of siding with indigenous communities. One of them is by encouraging a social inclusion approach to indigenous communities to realize inclusive and sustainable development.
"In every August 17th ceremony, state officials always wear traditional clothing as a proud identity of this nation. But the reality is that it only acknowledges the attributes of indigenous peoples. While the problem of land evictions experienced by indigenous peoples by corporations, the government tends to ignore," said Haryanto, Project Officer KKI WARSI.
"We hope that prospective leaders in Tebo Regency can develop a vision and mission that is in line with the aspirations of the community. Also, can formulate strategies that support the strengthening of local culture. As well as the involvement of indigenous peoples in inclusive development in Tebo Regency," continued Haryanto.
Tebo Regency has a wealth of local culture and indigenous heritage that has the potential to support sustainable and inclusive development. However, in practice, there is still minimal protection for indigenous peoples.
"Indigenous communities should actually be involved as subjects in development processes because with their traditional wisdom they live while maintaining environmental and social balance," he said.
According to him, development policies in Tebo Regency must be more inclusive while still paying attention to environmental sustainability and local wisdom. This is important to do considering that Tebo Regency is one of the concentrations of marginal indigenous communities, namely the Orang Rimba and Talang Mamak. These two tribes are part of the Tebo community. However, they have not fully received the living space they deserve. This is because this tribe was previously known as a community that depended on the forest for its livelihood. However, now they can no longer live their lives depending on the forest because there has been a change in the function of the forest through a number of developments. For this reason, it is important to have a development reach that touches the lives of these indigenous communities, as well as policies to protect their living space.
Marizal, a representative of the traditional figures who were present also expressed his opinion. According to him, preserving customs and culture is a shared task. There needs to be a policy in preserving culture and nature.
"It is undeniable that environmental damage has begun to occur, so that natural resources that were once abundant are now increasingly thin. For example, fish, now their population has decreased significantly due to the destruction of the river ecosystem. We hope that whoever is elected later can harmonize nature, even if only 70 percent," Masrizal hoped.
Nazar Effendi, the candidate for Deputy Regent from the Agus-Nazar pair, said that inclusive development and the involvement of all elements of society are the vision for the future development of Tebo Regency.
"Inclusive development is our mission as an effort to ensure that development does not only focus on economic growth but also pays attention to how cultural values also grow. Including indigenous peoples who have traditional knowledge of local wisdom. At the same time, this is the last bastion to maintain environmental balance. Not only the environment, but all aspects must be considered. Don't be selective," said Nazar in response.
Nazar also highlighted four aspects that must be done to strengthen culture and indigenous communities. First, there needs to be recognition and legal protection of the rights of indigenous communities. Second, culture-based education must be strengthened by including materials on regional culture and local languages in the school curriculum. Third, economic empowerment programs for indigenous communities must be increased to improve their welfare without destroying existing culture. Fourth, promotion and preservation of culture through festivals, exhibitions, and social media can help raise public awareness of the importance of culture and indigenous communities.
Meanwhile, another candidate, Aspan from the Aspan-Wartono pair, said that inclusive development has been his concern, even since becoming the Acting Regent of Tebo. In this discussion, Aspan admitted that he was ready to accommodate the results of the discussion to perfect his vision and mission.
