Solar panel illustration. Rempang Eco City is projected to be the world’s second-largest glass and solar panel factory. Source: WikiCommons. CC BY-SA 4.0

This article was submitted as part of the Global Voices Climate Justice fellowship, which pairs journalists from Sinophone and Global Majority countries to investigate the effects of Chinese development projects abroad. Find more stories here.

On Rempang Island, part of Indonesia's Riau Islands Province, residents launched a protest on September 7, 2023, to oppose the development of the government's latest mega-project, the Rempang Eco City. Residents from 16 villages in Rempang Island declined to be evicted and blocked authorities from entering villages to stake and measure the land. Clashes occurred after police and military fired tear gas at the villagers, causing many students in a nearby elementary school to faint. At least 40 were arrested, dozens were hurt, and many more were left traumatized.

Rempang Eco City is one of Indonesia’s National Strategic Projects and is envisioned as an engine that will drive Indonesia’s economic growth. The project is being jointly spearheaded by Batam Indonesia Free Zone Authority (BP Batam), local company PT Makmur Elok Graha (MEG), and China's Xinyi International Investment Limited (信义玻璃公司), the world’s largest glass and solar panel maker. 

On September 11, 2023, residents took to the streets again in front of the regional government office, calling on the government to revoke the project. Demonstrations also took place outside the Chinese embassy in Jakarta. 

Despite a series of protests, the development of this economic hub continues.

The government asserted that this project will be economically beneficial and will also push Indonesia’s green energy transition. Converting over 17,000 hectares into an industrial hub, officials claim the project will create around 300,000 jobs and generate USD 26.6 billion in investment by 2080. This project could also support Indonesia’s ambition to raise the share of renewable energy to 34 percent of its electricity mix by 2030.  

However, the development of Rempang Eco City continues to stir controversy, largely because most of the island's 7,500 residents, including Indigenous seafarers who have lived there for generations, would be evicted. Some experts have also expressed that this megaproject development will come at a great cost to the environment.  

Rempang Eco City: the world’s second-largest glass and solar panel factory? 

Initially, the plan to develop Rempang Island was announced in 2004 with the regional government and PT MEG signing an MoU to develop 5,000 hectares of Rempang Island into a tourism hub, aimed at attracting more tourists from neighbouring countries, considering its proximity to Singapore and Malaysia. But no development took place until 2022.  

In July 2023, Indonesia's then-President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) and Chinese President Xi Jinping reached an agreement that Xinyi Glass will invest USD 1.16 billion in Rempang Eco City. The plan for Rempang Eco City shifted after Xinyi Glass entered the conversation.  

No longer envisioned as an ecotourism destination, it’s projected to be the world’s second-largest glass and solar panel manufacturing hub, benefiting from the abundant silica and quartz sand around the island. This hub aims to meet the Southeast Asia market since it’s also tied to a deal with Singapore to export 3.4 gigawatts of solar electricity by around 2030, Mongabay reports. Indonesia's then-Minister of Investment, Bahlil Lahadalia, explained.

Ini (fasilitas di Batam) akan menjadi pabrik terbesar kedua di dunia setelah China. Kalau kita sudah berhasil membangun sistem hilirisasi dari nikel, sekarang mulai kita dorong ke pasir kuarsa. Output produknya hampir 95% untuk ekspor, karena pasarnya adalah luar negeri.

This will be the second-largest factory in the world after China. We've successfully developed a downstream nickel system, and now we're starting to expand to quartz sand. Nearly 95 percent of our output will be for export, as the market is overseas.

Rempang is not Xinyi’s first project; the company has successfully built industrial parks in Malaysia and East Java, Indonesia. Xinyi is known to specialize in three core areas: float glass, automotive glass, and energy-efficient architectural glass. Its business spreads across more than 160 countries and regions worldwide, with an annual revenue of RMB 22.3 billion (over USD 3.1 billion) and total assets exceeding RMB 48 billion (USD 6.6 billion). 

Rempang has abundant silica and quartz sand that will benefit the glass and solar panel factory. Source: WikiCommons. CC BY-SA 4.0

Xinyi Group CEO Lee Yin Yee said in a press statement: 

Sebelumnya Xinyi Group telah berinvestasi di Gresik. Kali ini kami berencana untuk berinvestasi dalam pembangunan industri fotovoltaik atau panel surya di Pulau Rempang dan akan menjadi area industri fotovoltaik komprehensif terbesar di dunia.

Xinyi Group previously invested in Gresik, (East Java, Indonesia). This time, we plan to invest in the development of a photovoltaic or solar panel industry on Rempang Island, which will become the largest comprehensive photovoltaic industrial area in the world.

Before Xinyi, other Chinese companies, such as Thornova Solar, and companies from Japan and Singapore already invested in solar panel production in the Riau Islands province. 

Indonesia is a strategic partner for solar energy, especially on Batam Island. With high solar irradiance, a stable climate, and an integrated port with its proximity to Singapore and Malaysia, Batam Island could develop into a new hotspot for the solar industry. It could serve cross-border energy exports with seaborne access. Greenpeace China said:

毋庸置疑，印尼的可再生能源将是未来的发展热点，而光伏作为成本降速最快的电源，更将成为重点发展领域。

Undoubtedly, renewable energy in Indonesia will be a hotspot for future development, and photovoltaics, as the power source with the fastest cost reduction, will become a key development area.

Environmental risks 

Scenery seen from Tuanku Tambusai Bridge which connects Rempang Island and Galang Island. Image from Wikipedia. CC BY-SA 4.0

Rempang is rich in natural resources; it boasts mangrove forests, colorful reefs, fish-filled waters, lush forests, and community gardens that support the subsistence economy of the local residents.

To help support the construction, the contractors would need to dredge sand from the waters surrounding the island and launch a land reclamation project — both of which are notoriously bad for the coastal ecosystem. The disposal of liquid and hazardous waste from glass factories would also harm aquatic life in rivers or the sea, according to an environmental NGO, the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Wahana Lingkungan Hidup, WALHI). 

“The presence of the glass factory not only threatens Rempang but also the small islands around it. If this company is particularly active, we predict that it is likely that there will be many mining sites developed on neighbouring islands that threaten local fishers’ fishing areas and the safety of those small islands,” said the head of WALHI Riau, Boy Sembiring, to Al Jazeera. 

In an interview with Kompas, Dorman, a Rempang resident, worried that the construction of this factory would ruin the livelihoods of local fishermen because there would be no more fish to catch.

Furthermore, this mega-project could accelerate ecocide or the destruction of resources and ecosystems due to massive exploitation of the environment and natural resources.

Illustration of fishermen. Most of the residents of Rempang Island are fishermen. Source: Pxhere. CC0 1.0.

Human rights issues and evictions

Since the September 2023 protests, countless families have been forcibly evicted from their lands. Islanders were forced to move to temporary accommodation provided by the government as they construct 350 houses within 500 square meters in Galang Island, Batam, Riau Islands Province. Many who resided in Rempang their whole life are deeply opposed to this.  

“They want to move us to small houses in the city, I don’t want to go,” said Grandma Cuh, the oldest resident in Rempang, to the BBC.

A total of 16 villages are being affected by the evictions, many of which have been there since 1834.

“If the evictions continue, there are thousands of residents who are at risk of being severed from their ancestral history and losing their primary livelihoods from farming, gardening, and fishing that have passed down through generations,” said Ahlul Fadli, a member of the National Solidarity Team of Rempang, to Kompas.

The land conflict in Rempang is not just about local transmigration, but also about history, identity, and structural justice, said Rina Mardiana, Advisor to the Center for Agrarian Studies at IPB University, in an interview with Kompas. Therefore, Rina added, development must not sacrifice the sustainability of natural resources and community sovereignty over their living space. 

Highlighting the intimidation, Amnesty International Indonesia, in a statement, called for the construction of Rempang Eco City to be suspended. Deputy Director of Amnesty International Indonesia, Wirya Adiwena, said: 

Hak-hak masyarakat adat harus dihormati dan dilindungi dari segala bentuk ancaman dan kekerasan, mereka juga harus dilibatkan secara bermakna dalam pembangunan yang dilakukan di tanah atau wilayah mereka.

The rights of Indigenous peoples must be respected and protected from all forms of threats and violence, and they must also be meaningfully involved in developments taking place on their lands or territories.

However, local authorities expressed their optimism that they would receive support from islanders once the house construction was finished. The government also guaranteed that “security matters will be carried out softly” in regard to relocation. Batam’s local authorities, Ariastuty Sirait, to local news site, Bisnis.com: 

 Apabila pembangunan rumah tahap kedua beserta fasilitas pendukung lainnya rampung, kami optimis ini akan mengubah pandangan masyarakat menjadi lebih positif terhadap rencana investasi di kampung mereka.

Once the second phase of housing construction and other supporting facilities are completed, we are optimistic that this will change the community's perspective on investment plans in their village, making them more positive.

But, residents are adamant about their stance. 

“This is my home and this is where I want to die,” said Halimad, one of the residents, to Al Jazeera.