Polls give Kedungpring villagers renewed hope<\/p>\n
By Asip Agus Hasani<\/p>\n
BOYOLALI, Central Java (JP): Thousands of Kedungpring
\nvillagers who lost land to Soeharto's Kedungombo Dam project in
\nthe 1980s voted at Monday's polls because of renewed faith that a
\nnew government would help ease suffering.<\/p>\n
These are the same people who boycotted the 1997 general
\nelection. \"We have been suffering in makeshift shelters these
\npast eleven years,\" said 75-year-old Sopawiro Parman, who
\ninsisted on staying in squalid conditions in a restricted green
\nbelt area surrounding the dam.<\/p>\n
Sopawiro, known by villagers as Mbah (Grandpa) Jenggot, said
\nelections used to have nothing to do with them. \"Joining the
\npolls have always meant perpetuating our misery because Golkar
\nalways won,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Now that reform is here, they went to the polls with new hope.
\n\"Pak Harto, who was president for decades, eventually stepped
\ndown. May be our case, too, will now be settled,\" Sopawiro said.<\/p>\n
For many like Sopawiro, a solution to the land appropriation
\ndispute has been a mere dream for years. The World Bank-funded
\nmegaproject of damming Serang River to generate 22.5 megawatts of
\nelectricity became internationally controversial because of the
\nforced eviction of farmers and residents who protested a
\ncompensation of only Rp 250 (a quarter of one US cent) per square
\nmeter of land.<\/p>\n
Some 9,529 hectares of land were appropriated then, home to
\n5,628 families of the regencies of Boyolali, Sragen and Grobogan.
\nA number of the residents were relocated to regions outside Java
\nwhile others continued the struggle to get decent compensation.<\/p>\n
Some refused to budge from homes and land even when the water
\nstarted to flood in. These were the people whom Soeharto once
\ncalled mbalelo, stubborn rebels.<\/p>\n
\"We were intimidated, terrorized, kidnapped and accused of
\nbeing PKI (the outlawed Indonesian Communist Party),\" said
\nSopawiro, who was among those who tried to hold on to land even
\nwhen the dam began to fill with water.<\/p>\n
In May 1991, Soeharto inaugurated the Kedungombo Dam which by
\nthen cost Rp 152 billion (US$78.3 million based on contemporary
\nexchange rates).<\/p>\n
The residents of Kedungpring are known as the most vocal in
\nthe protest against the project. The village is no longer there,
\nbut the residents held on to the name and used it for the place
\nthey relocated to in the green belt area just meters away from
\nthe dam.<\/p>\n
While some of the Kedung Ombo inhabitants reluctantly signed
\nthe appropriation papers in the end and accepted the money
\nbecause of fears of further intimidation, the Kedungpring
\nresidents still refused.<\/p>\n
They set up the Association of Kedung Ombo Dam Victims
\ninvolving members from 17 hamlets. With the help of legal aid
\noffices in Jakarta and in Semarang, some 90 kilometers away, the
\nassociation conveyed protests to then Central Java governor
\nSoewardi.<\/p>\n
In late 1989, Soewardi offered an increase of compensation to
\nRp 810 per square meter of land. Still, the villagers refused. In
\n1993, the Supreme Court ruled the Central Java administration to
\npay the residents Rp 50,000 per square meter.<\/p>\n
One month later, Soewardi appealed the decree. No progress has
\nbeen made since then.<\/p>\n
Squalid<\/p>\n
Even now, the Kedung Ombo people, especially the Kedungpring
\nvillagers who have never received any compensation, live in a sad
\nsituation. They no longer farm except on small patches of land in
\nthe restricted green belt area. Every piece of personal property
\nthey brought when they were evicted such as jewelry has long
\nsince gone.<\/p>\n
\"I used to own 17 cows, but I sold the last one two years ago
\nto buy rice with, and to pay for my children's medication when
\nthey fell ill,\" said Sucitro, 60, of Kedungpring.<\/p>\n
Out of the 34 families in Kedungpring's \"new\" village, there
\nare always one or two members forced to seek work in Jakarta.
\nSucitro's eldest son now works in a spoon factory in Jakarta
\nwhile his eldest daughter works as a domestic helper.<\/p>\n
\"Just like the other families in Kedungpring who rely on sons
\nor daughters, we survive with the help from our son in Jakarta,\"
\nSucitro said.<\/p>\n
When life is difficult, one of the first things to go is
\nschooling. The association's chairman, Darsono, said since the
\nrelocation, only two Kedungpring children finished junior high
\nschool and eight finished elementary school. Right now there are
\n20 children who are being educated in the fourth grade.<\/p>\n
\"Usually, as soon as they complete elementary school, our
\nchildren go to work in Jakarta to help finance younger siblings'
\nschooling,\" Darsono said. \"When Romo Mangunwijaya died, we were
\nvery sad because he was the only one who cared enough to try to
\nprovide free schooling for children.\"<\/p>\n
Malnutrition, poor sanitation and even death are the price
\nthat the Kedungpring villagers have had to pay for the
\n\"stubbornness\" and yet they continued the protest by, among other
\nthings, boycotting the 1997 elections.<\/p>\n
Darsono recounted how a day before the elections then, seven
\ntrucks full of troops visited the Kedungpring village. Together
\nwith local officials, the troops went door to door, threatening
\nthe inhabitants to vote.<\/p>\n
\"At 2:30 in the morning they banged on doors, shouting, asking
\nus who told us to boycott the poll. We all gave the same answer,
\n'the dam water did',\" Darsono said.<\/p>\n
People's party<\/p>\n
Darsono said the residents voted on Monday, June 7, because
\nthey believed a change was in the air.<\/p>\n
\"We used to be forced into voting for Golkar. Now, there's no
\nlonger intimidation,\" Darsono said. \"We felt like the poll on
\nMonday was really something that had to do with us. A party for
\nus.\"<\/p>\n
A meeting of the Kedung Ombo residents on May 3 decided that
\nnot only would they join the poll, but they would vote for
\nMegawati Soekarnoputri's Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle
\n(PDI Perjuangan).<\/p>\n
\"The residents here believe that if she becomes president, Bu
\nMega would listen to us and help solve our case,\" Darsono said.<\/p>\n
A total of 103 residents of Kedungpring went to the polling
\nplace on Monday, together with 65 residents of Kedungrejo. A
\ntotal of 149 votes were for PDI Perjuangan, followed by 15 votes
\nfor Golkar and four for National Awakening Party (PKB).<\/p>\n
\"I am sure, the 15 votes for Golkar came from the Kedungrejo
\nresidents,\" Darsono said.<\/p>\n
Darsono said in 1992, the residents already supported PDI
\nPerjuangan. \"We love Bung Karno, the father of Bu Mega, because
\nhe was close to little people like us. So if Bu Mega becomes
\npresident, we are sure she will pay attention to us.\"<\/p>\n
\"Actually, we don't mind whoever becomes president, as long as
\nthey really help us,\" he said.<\/p>\n
In mid-May, some 20 residents of Kedung Ombo met with Amien
\nRais of National Mandate Party (PAN) when he was campaigning in
\nSurakarta. They asked for a guarantee that if he becomes
\npresident, he would help them.<\/p>\n
\"This does not mean our protest is finished. As soon as
\nthere's a new president, we will protest again,\" Darsono said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/polls-give-kedungpring-villagers-renewed-hope-1447893297",
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