Demand for nickel is booming due to the energy transition in the countries of the Global North, but nickel mining has a severe impact on local communities.
To supply nickel to the automobile industry, the mining company Wijaya Intan Nusantara Mining (PT WIN), owned by Frans Salim Kalalo, is mining nickel ore only about 100 meters from the village of Torobulu, along the main road. This causes clouds of thick dust that constantly settles on the community and its houses. Two water sources are already unusable and rice fields are ruined. Residents are protesting because they do not want to suffer more landslides and fear that they will continue.

Despite the promotion of energy transition in northern countries as positive, nickel mining in Sulawesi negatively impacts the local economy.
Because of the close proximity to the residential area and the environmental impact, the villagers, the village chief and district chief met with the company and agreed to stop the mining – an agreement that the company did not respect.