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Villagers vs nickel mining - 12th April 2023

Indonesia produces the most nickel in the world. Nickel's a very valuable metal. It's used in electric vehicle batteries. Many companies need nickel. Nickel mining's become famous in Sulawesi in Indonesia. Companies are digging the earth to find the metal. But in Sulawesi, villages are at risk of losing their farmlands and income.

Royani sells cloves to feed and support the family.

Royani: "Clove trees are all we have. I want to send my child to college but now where can I get the money from? In Mosolo, most of the parents, who sent their children to universities, earned the money from clove farming. Nickel is only for the miners. We don't get the benefit. We'll suffer losses instead."

Villagers in Sulawesi are fighting for their farms. But rich countries like China and South Korea and car company Tesla are mining nickel there. This is harming villages and the environment. It's made the sea red and killed the fish. Guntur has seen the changes.

Guntur: "This is all because of the mining. To be honest, it's the mine. In the past when there were no mines, the waters were not like this. It was so clean. We could bathe and fish, now we can't. When we throw bait into the sea, then pull it out, the bait is covered in red. Before, when we threw the bait into the sea, it would stay clean."

When it rains, the rainwater from the mines flows into the sea. The pollution from the mines has killed the fish in the waters surrounding the villages.

It seems unlikely that the fighting between villagers and mining companies will end soon. President Widodo of Indonesia said that he wants the country to become rich.