Koja resident sues governor over land compensation rate<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): A resident of North Koja district in North
\nJakarta is suing the governor of Jakarta, the North Jakarta mayor
\nand the state-owned PT Pelindo seaport company for fixing the
\ncompensation for his land prior to consulting him.<\/p>\n
In his suit, Saman charged that the governor had failed to
\nform a land procurement committee as required by a Presidential
\ndecree on land procurement when negotiations to decide the
\ncompensation started. Saman maintains that the committee's
\ndecision on the amount of compensation was arbitrary.<\/p>\n
Previously Saman and 50 other residents filed a suit which
\nthey later withdrew.<\/p>\n
\"I decided to file a suit on my own this time because when we
\nfiled a suit with 50 other people, one by one we had to withdraw
\ndue to intimidation,\" Saman said, who was secretary of the group
\nof 50 residents.<\/p>\n
The withdrawal, he said, followed a summons from Governor
\nSurjadi Soedirdja through the assistant of the deputy governor
\nfor development affairs. The governor asked the residents to
\ndiscuss the matter.<\/p>\n
\"But nothing came of the discussion so I decided to once again
\nfile a suit,\" Saman said.<\/p>\n
The North Koja district, located adjacent to the Tanjung Priok
\ncontainer terminal, has been earmarked as a new cargo terminal
\nextension site. However, over 9,037 families comprising 37,400
\npeople who live in a 90-hectare area will have to be moved before
\nconstruction begins.<\/p>\n
The new $498-million terminal, the property of the state-owned
\nPT Pelindo seaport company and Humpuss Terminal Peti Kemas III, a
\ncompany owned by President Soeharto's youngest son Hutomo Mandala
\nPutera, will begin operating in October 1998.<\/p>\n
In general, residents seem willing to leave their land but
\nthey object to the compensation offered by PT Pelindo.<\/p>\n
North Jakarta Mayor H. Suprawito, who is also the head of the
\nNorth Koja land appropriation committee, has offered Rp 160,000
\n(US$74) per square meter to the land owners on behalf of the
\ncompany.<\/p>\n
The offer was rejected by the residents, who demanded Rp 2.27
\nmillion per square meter.<\/p>\n
The dispute has continued since late last year with most of
\nthe people still refusing the offer.<\/p>\n
However, Jurthoni, chief of North Koja district, said that
\nthere is no problem concerning the compensation and that up until
\nnow 2,139 building owners out of 6,500 in Koja subdistrict have
\nreceived the compensation.<\/p>\n
\"The remaining owners occupy the space to be used in the
\nfourth phase of construction in 1996. We have not asked them to
\ncollect the compensation,\" Jurthoni told The Jakarta Post
\nrecently.<\/p>\n
\"It is not true. The problem (of compensation) has not been
\nsolved yet and the residents are still sticking to their original
\ndemand,\" Saman said, adding that most of people who have
\ncollected the compensation are employees of the municipality or
\nretired employees of PT Pelindo.<\/p>\n
The North Jakarta District Court will begin examining Saman's
\nsuit on Sept. 12. (yns)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/koja-resident-sues-governor-over-land-compensation-rate-1447893297",
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