Indonesia/Germany: Heidelberg Materials is facing local protests against a planned cement plant and limestone quarry in Central Java. Locals say that the company failed to properly assess and mitigate the potential harms of its plans in the Kendeng Mountains. They say the project may damage a rare karst ecosystem and harm the livelihoods of Indigenous people in the area. An official complaint to the German Federal Office for Economic Affairs and Export Control against Heidelberg Materials and Indocement is Indonesia's first to be filed under Germany's new supply chain law, which is designed to ensure that human rights are respected throughout the supply chains of German companies.
“If the project is implemented, we face an ecological catastrophe, impoverishment and violations of our human rights,” said Bambang Sutikyo, one of the complainants.
Heidelberg Materials said that affected communities had had the opportunity to voice concerns to the company's local subsidiary PT Indocement Tunggal Prakarsa during the project's permitting process and that feedback was reflected in the project planning. She added that “No decision on the implementation of the project has been taken.”
