Behind Salim Group’s sugar supply chain: Agrarian conflict and violence against Pundenrejo farmers
Published in Trend Asia, 2026
For this report, I worked alongside my colleagues at Trend Asia to investigate the long-running agrarian conflict in Pundenrejo village, Pati Regency, Central Java. The land that local farmers have cultivated for generations is now controlled by PT Lajuperdana Indah, a sugar company under Salim Group. Although held under a building-use title (Hak Guna Bangunan), the land has been used to support the company’s sugar business, a use that potentially breaches national land regulations. Our research traced this corporate supply chain and documented the pattern of repression that followed the farmers’ efforts to reclaim their land, from crop destruction and the demolition of their community shelter to damaged homes, often with security forces present but failing to intervene. Designed as evidence-based campaign material to amplify the farmers’ struggle, the report calls on the Ministry of Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning (ATR/BPN) to reject the company’s application for new land rights and to designate the area as a land reform object (Tanah Objek Reforma Agraria).
Recommended citation: Trend Asia. (2026). Di balik rantai pasok gula Salim Group: Konflik agraria dan kekerasan terhadap petani Pundenrejo [Behind Salim Group's sugar supply chain: Agrarian conflict and violence against Pundenrejo farmers]. https://trendasia.org/di-balik-rantai-pasok-gula-salim-group-konflik-agraria-dan-kekerasan-terhadap-petani-pundenrejo/
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