Protesters block newly built Serpong toll road<\/p>\n
TANGERANG (JP): Dozens of demonstrators blocked a tollgate of
\nthe newly built Bintaro-Serpong toll road in Ciputat here on
\nFriday to protest its construction.<\/p>\n
The protesters claimed that 3,280 square meters of the toll
\nroad were still owned by the heirs of a deceased local Kampung
\nSawah villager named Kampret.<\/p>\n
Daud, a lawyer representing the heirs, said the plot had never
\nbeen sold to any party.<\/p>\n
\"As the lawyer of the land's heirs, I have the right to order
\npeople to block this,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The protesters, who had begun blocking the tollgate on
\nThursday, piled wooden poles on the road and set up tents at the
\nsite, making it impossible for motorists to pass through the
\ngates.<\/p>\n
According to a tentative schedule, the 7.1-kilometer-long toll
\nroad linking the vast Bumi Serpong Damai housing complex with the
\nBintaro area is to be opened on Saturday by Minister of Public
\nWorks Rachmadi B. Sumadhijo.<\/p>\n
Citing a legal document issued by the Tangerang Land and
\nBuilding Tax Office, Daud said the land was still registered
\nunder Kampret's name.<\/p>\n
The lawyer said that none of Kampret's relatives, including
\nhis four sons, had sold the land to the state-owned toll road
\noperator, PT Jasa Marga.<\/p>\n
The firm, however, claims to have bought the land, he said.<\/p>\n
Daud explained that Kampret's family had once offered the plot
\nto Jasa Marga at Rp 275,000 per square meter, but that the two
\nparties had never reached an agreement.<\/p>\n
The family also rejected a Rp 50 million \"compensation\" offer
\nby the Ciputat district chief, the lawyer said.<\/p>\n
\"How could he use the word 'compensation' for this land since
\nit was still owned (by the family),\" Daud said, adding that the
\nstandard market price of land in the area ranged between Rp
\n250,000 and Rp 275,000 per square meter.<\/p>\n
When asked to comment on the protesters' actions, Iqbal, a
\nrepresentative of Bumi Serpong Damai housing complex's developer
\nwhich had also constructed the toll road, said his company did
\nnot know how Jasa Marga had appropriated the land.<\/p>\n
\"We just built the road to provide easy access for people
\nheading to and from the housing complex,\" Iqbal said.<\/p>\n
An assistant to the Tangerang regent, Obun Burhanuddin, said
\nat the site that he also did not know how the land was
\nappropriated.<\/p>\n
\"We also never received a report about the Rp 50 million
\ncompensation offer from the Ciputat district official,\" he said.<\/p>\n
None of the protesters, who did not look as if they were from
\nthe area, were willing to comment on their presence.<\/p>\n
In an attempt to avoid possible unrest, local security
\nauthorities deployed dozens of armed personnel at the site.<\/p>\n
\"We are only ordered to safeguard the area. We do not know
\nanything about the dispute,\" sergeant Sarjono, one of the police
\nofficers, said. (41\/jun)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/protesters-block-newly-built-serpong-toll-road-1447893297",
"image": ""
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