Land compensation case takes new turn<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): A small trader evicted from his land in 1989 has
\nasked the Supreme Court whether he is the rightful owner of the
\nbank interest accumulated from land compensation which he refused
\nto accept almost 10 years ago.<\/p>\n
The compensation was placed in a government bank account and
\nhad been earning interest.<\/p>\n
His Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH) lawyers said they had
\nlodged a formal request for a court ruling called a surat
\npermohonan fatwa (letter of instruction) on Monday.<\/p>\n
The case of trader Henry M. Ali had been dubbed the \"One
\nBillion Shanty\" case after his earlier Rp 1.3 billion lawsuit
\nagainst the Jakarta governor, the South Jakarta mayor, and the
\ndirector general of highways at the Ministry of Public Works.<\/p>\n
In a press release on Thursday the head of the institute's
\nland division, T. Haryo Karbyanto, said they had asked the court
\nto rule on the status of ownership of the bank interest.<\/p>\n
Henry took his compensation of Rp 54,047,620 (US$22,006), last
\nmonth after the South Jakarta District Court rejected his
\nlawsuit, filed in 1996, for a second time.<\/p>\n
The court said he could collect his interest at the BNI bank
\nin Tebet, estimated to be Rp 50 million, if there was a ruling
\nfrom the Supreme Court.<\/p>\n
T. Haryo said, \"After efforts to seek justice failed, our
\nclient decided to stop seeking justice and to take the
\ncompensation ...,\" the lawyers said in a letter to Chief Justice
\nSarwata.<\/p>\n
Henry was evicted from his 2,000-square-meter plot in
\nSrengseng Sawah, South Jakarta, in 1985 after he refused the
\noffered compensation, saying it was too low.<\/p>\n
Henry claimed he had been told that his land was for
\nresidential use when he asked government officials about it in
\n1979. But he was later told it was for a road project.<\/p>\n
The South Jakarta mayoralty had entrusted the compensation to
\nthe South Jakarta District Court after no agreement could be
\nreached.<\/p>\n
The money was kept in the account of the South Jakarta
\nDistrict Court since December 1987. (05)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/land-compensation-case-takes-new-turn-1447893297",
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"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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