'For the people's benefit? That's a lie!'<\/p>\n
The issuance of Presidential Regulation No. 36\/2005 on land
\nacquisition for the development of public projects has given the
\ngovernment more power to compulsorily purchase land from private
\ncitizens in the name of the public interest. The Jakarta Post
\ntalked to local residents about this issue.<\/p>\n
Andre Haviziena, 29, is an employee at United Nations for
\nIndonesian Reform. He rents a room at Pos Pengumben, West
\nJakarta:<\/p>\n
I think the regulation will not be effective. Why? First, the
\ngovernment is corrupt, so whatever they do will not get any
\npositive response from the people.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, people are defying the law and regulations because
\nthey always think of the government as an oppressive power. The
\nperception arises because, during the New Order regime, the
\ngovernment always evicted people by force with inadequate
\ncompensation for landowners.<\/p>\n
If we want to solve the problem, the first thing to do is that
\nthe government will have to prove that they are clean. This means
\nthat in any land acquisition transaction negotiations must be
\nconducted transparently.<\/p>\n
Second, they must really prove that the land acquisitions are
\nmeant to improve people's welfare, and not for the interests of
\nbusinesspeople.<\/p>\n
Maria, 40, is a housewife. She lives with her family in the
\nRawa Belong area, West Jakarta:<\/p>\n
I can't believe such a regulation could be issued by the
\ngovernment in this reform era. They should be more sensitive
\nbecause there have been too many land acquisitions in which the
\npeople always got nothing.<\/p>\n
The people lost because the government always argued that the
\nacquisitions were in the interests of the people, but in the end,
\nit was only in the interest of investors.<\/p>\n
For example, back in the 1960s lots of people were evicted by
\nthe government from the Senayan area, arguing that it would be to
\nbuild public facilities. But look now, Senayan has turned into a
\nmalls and hotels that only rich people can enjoy. Does the
\ngovernment regret telling such lies? No!<\/p>\n
So, why trust them? Why must we obey the law and regulations
\nif civil servants at the land office and the city planners are
\nstill colluding with businesspeople to change the city's policies
\non land and city plans?<\/p>\n
--The Jakarta Post<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/for-the-peoples-benefit-thats-a-lie-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }