Kerinci Merangin Hydropower Project Casts Shadow Over Jambi Villages

Thin smoke begins to rise from a small hut on the edge of the rice fields in Tarutung Village, Batang Merangin District, Kerinci, Jambi. Under a rusty tin roof, Nur Ainun, 54, stirs boiling cassava water with a piece of wood. In front of her lies a stretch of rice fields, with bushes that they have only recently cleared. Her husband is still in the middle of the paddy. The sound of a machete repeatedly strikes the weeds that have grown almost waist-high. Occasionally, he stops, wipes his sweat, and then returns to hacking at the undergrowth that has dominated the land for two years. This is the third time they have cleared the same farmland. It's not because the soil is no longer fertile, nor because they have stopped being farmers. They left the land because the water no longer came. 'Hopefully, the water will flow smoothly this time, so we can start sowing rice,' Nur Ainun said softly, last April. Nur's rice fields are not far from the riverbank. For decades, her family has never had problems with water. The river flowed according to the seasons, and the wooden water wheels that residents installed lifted water to the irrigation channels without them ever thinking much about it. The river worked like breathing. Calm, regular, and understandable to them. Farmers knew when to start plowing, sowing, fertilizing, and even harvesting. They read the seasons from the river's surface level, just as fishermen read the currents from the water's color. Now, all that knowledge is slowly losing its meaning. The water can recede in the morning. A few hours later, it suddenly floods, then disappears again. There is no longer a pattern they can read. There is no longer certainty. 'The second month after planting, we usually apply fertilizer,' said Nur. The rice fields that farmers no longer cultivate are affected by the Kerinci Merangin Hydropower Project. This project is altering the natural water flow that village residents have relied on for years, making it difficult for farmers to predict planting and harvesting times and threatening their livelihoods. Residents are facing a situation where the once stable water supply has become unpredictable, making it challenging to maintain traditional farming cycles. This situation highlights the complex impact of development projects on local communities.