Polemik Geotermal di Poco Leok, Manggarai dari Perspektif Etika Politik Pembangunan Peter L. Berger

Abstract

The Decree of the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources (EMR) Number 2268 K/30/MEM/2017 which designates Flores as a Geothermal island has opened the gate for geothermal project operations in NTT. However, recently, geothermal projects in NTT have given birth to pros and cons involving students, academics, religious leaders, political figures, traditional leaders, and civil society. One of the loci of  Geothermal polemics that continues to rage in NTT is in Poco Leok, Manggarai Regency. The government assesses that geothermal projects will bring significant changes to people's lives, especially in increasing electricity capacity. Meanwhile, the people of Poco Leok consider that geothermal has the potential to cause ecological and humanitarian wounds. These differences in perspectives allow for inevitable clashes between the government and society that lead to acts of terror, intimidation, and state repression against the community. This research aims to introduce the political ethics of Berger's development. For Berger, development is an effort to eliminate human suffering. Therefore, Berger criticizes the development model with the ideology of capitalism and socialism because they both create ecological wounds and humanitarian wounds. On this basis, Berger proposes two ethical criteria in development policymaking, namely the calculation of physical suffering—poverty, injustice, hunger, disease outbreaks, ecological damage, income inequality, and the suppression of  hunger—and the calculation of meaning—considering the loss of meaning or the loss of people's knowledge of local wisdom, culture, and civilization. The political ethics of Berger's development should be a serious consideration for the Manggarai government regarding the continuation of the geothermal project in Poco Leok. In this study, the author uses literature reviews from various books, literatures and selected scientific articles that have a close relationship with the title or theme of this article.