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View all search resultsIndonesia’s energy transition leaves coal communities struggling to adapt
In Muara Enim regency, the heart of South Sumatra's coal industry, the closure of mines has left local residents scrambling to find new livelihoods, while others continue to live with the economic hardship and environmental scars left behind by decades of mining.
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Asnili, a resident of Pulau Panggung village, Muara Enim regency, South Sumatra, searches for gravel in the Enim River to earn a living on July 21, 2026. (JP/Yulia Savitri)
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s Indonesia pushes toward a cleaner energy future, many people living in the shadow of coal mines are confronting an uncertain future.
In Muara Enim regency, the heart of South Sumatra's coal industry, the closure of mines has left local residents scrambling to find new livelihoods, while others continue to live with the economic hardship and environmental scars left behind by decades of mining.
When coal mining expanded into his village of Pulau Panggung, Andri, 48, left his family's rubber plantation for a maintenance job at a nearby coal mine.
The steady monthly wage offered by the mining company was far more reliable than earnings from his rubber plantation, he said. At the time, rubber prices had fallen so low that selling 2 kilograms of latex would only buy 1 kg of rice.
For nearly a decade, the job provided a stable income. But as the company gradually wound down its operations, Andri was among around 500 workers laid off in 2024.
With few other options, he returned to his family's rubber plantation. The work was familiar, but the returns were not.
"Compared with before the mines came, our harvest is much lower now. The environmental damage left by the mines has also affected our crops,” he said in a recent interview with The Jakarta Post.
