New Hope From Abandoned Land, The Story of Tuah Bersatu at Kundur Island

In many coastal villages, the lives of the local people are greatly dependent on season and weather. When the sea is calm, fortune flows. When the waves are high, income can stop. The situation has led to the need to build alternative business based on the potential of the village, in order that the economy of families is not based on one source.

The village of Sawang Laut, Island of Kundur in Riau Islands, a coastal area once abandoned, is now starting to revive. Villagers of Tuah Bersatu are slowly building a new source of income, from the cultivation of sea bass to downstream business managed in stages.

Head of the Tuah Beratu Group, Amran (46), said that this initiative began from the uneasiness of the local people who have only depended on sea catch results.

“We were once fishermen, after catching fish, we rest. No other activity. From there we thought about how to add to our income,” Amran disclosed.

With an empty plot of coastal land, the group began to cultivate sea bass in 2022 which ran actively since 2023. As time goes by, the business developed in stages in line with the preparation of the group – from hydroponic, production of shrimp paste, poultry farming, to the preparation of waste bank.

“At the beginning it was sea bass, then developed into hydroponic and shrimp paste. Now we have egg-laying hens and waste bank. Everything in stages,” explained Amran.

The impact, economically, began to be felt. From the poultry farm, the group was able to sell about 100 chickens per month worth about Rp10-12 million. Meanwhile, the hydroponic unit managed by the local women became a new hope through the sale of fresh vegetables such as pakcoy, salad and mustard greens.

“Although it has not fully developed, it is helping the economy of the families,” said Amran.

According to Amran, the most fundamental benefit is the increase of human resource capacity. Villagers who once only had sea fishing skills, now have from cultivation skills to business management.

“We began to study a lot more, know the Agency Head, get knowledge from experts. That is what we felt the most,” he explained.

In the course of the development, the Tuah Bersatu group received assistance through the Social and Environmental Responsibility program of PT Timah Tbk, Member of MIND ID or Mining Industry Indonesia, the Holding State-Owned Enterprise for the Mining Industry, from clearing land to technical knowledge and business development in stages.

Amran hopes that the assistance can continue, specifically in the development of feed for fish farming in order for operational costs to be lowered.

“We hope that the development of this program will continue. We would like to be more independent and able to assist the local people even more,” he said.

For the local people of Sawang Laut, this change is not only assistance , but a learning process that is making them more self sufficient in jointly building their business. At this point, Amran sees accompaniment is not only in terms of capital and equipment, but also room to grow – from fishermen who depended on products of the sea, to a group who begins to design their own economic future.

This program is implemented based on the Social and Environmental Responsibility scheme, and directed to building the local economic ecosystem based on village potential, so that the benefits do not stop at one commodity, but develop into various sources of income which are more durable.

The initiative which touches on the social and environmental aspect is in line with the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) principle implemented by the Group. For its consistency in managing the environmental and social impact in the areas around it operational territories, PT Timah Tbk was given the 2025 Gold PROPER and Green PROPER from the Ministry of the Environment/BPLH (Environmental Management Agency).