Raja Ampat, Nickel Mining, and the Environmental Ethics Crisis: When the State Fails to Be a Guardian of Nature

By Wahyu Hidayat

06 Jun 2025 03:45 WIB 06 June 2025 03:45 WIB 4 minutes reading time: 4 minutes 87 read

Updated: 19 Jan 2026 18:45 WIB 19 January 2026 18:45 WIB

This essay criticizes the planned nickel mine in Raja Ampat as evidence of the state's failure to protect the environment and enforce the law. The state is neglecting

Raja Ampat, Nickel Mining, and the Environmental Ethics Crisis: When the State Fails to Be a Guardian of Nature

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Table of Contents

Raja Ampat, Nickel Mining, and the Environmental Ethics Crisis: When the State Fails to Be a Guardian of Nature
Government Neglect, Environmental Ethics Die
Systemic Failure: From Raja Ampat to the New Capital City Infrastructure
The State Violates the Constitution and Ethical Motion against Nature
Failed As a Guardian State of Nature
From Raja Ampat, We Learn About Resistance

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Section 2/3: Systemic Failure: From Raja Ampat to the New Capital City Infrastructure

Systemic Failure: From Raja Ampat to the New Capital City Infrastructure

Raja Ampat is not an isolated case. Over the past decade, Indonesia has experienced an explosion of infrastructure development that is often not accompanied by valid AMDAL (Environmental Impact Analysis) documents, or even manipulates them.

Some national strategic projects (PSN) such as:

The Nusantara Capital City (IKN) in East Kalimantan,
The Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Train, to
Nickel Mines and Smelters in Sulawesi

all have a dark history related to the lack of transparency and public participation in the preparation of AMDAL.

In fact, AMDAL is a very fundamental legal prerequisite in Law No. 32 of 2009 concerning Environmental Protection and Management. Article 22 states that every business or activity plan that has a major and significant impact on the environment must have an AMDAL. However, in practice, AMDAL is more often treated as a formality document, prepared hastily, and does not fully involve affected communities.

This is a form of "legal greenwashing" that seems environmentally friendly because it has documents, but is actually full of manipulation and engineering.

The State Violates the Constitution and Ethical Motion against Nature

Violation of nature is also a violation of the constitution. Article 28H paragraph (1) of the 1945 Constitution states that "Everyone has the right to live prosperously physically and mentally, to reside, and to have a good and healthy environment." The nickel mine in Raja Ampat clearly violates this principle.

Law 32/2009 is also being blatantly violated:

Article 69 paragraph (1) explicitly prohibits actions that cause pollution and environmental damage.

Article 66 even states that "anyone who fights for the right to a healthy environment cannot be prosecuted either criminally or civilly."

However, in reality, environmental defenders are often criminalized. This is not just a legal inconsistency, but a moral betrayal of the reform mandate and the principles of ecological justice.