Village heads start rolling under public pressure in W. Java<\/p>\n
By Kafil Yamin<\/p>\n
BANDUNG (JP): The reform movement in West Java villages is
\nquite intense. The fanfare is more colorful, but with a simpler
\ngoal: a change in village heads. Perhaps because of such
\nsimplicity, the villagers struggle outweighs their well-educated
\ncompatriots in success.<\/p>\n
At least 79 village heads have stepped down due to public
\npressure and thousands others are expected to follow suit soon,
\naccording to the West Java Village Council.<\/p>\n
Then there are the staff members who shared their bosses'
\nfate. It is commonly assumed that the staffers played a role in
\ntheir bosses' misconduct and abuse of power.<\/p>\n
Village administration, the smallest instrument of the state,
\nhas always been a miniature of the nation's social, economic and
\npolitical realities.<\/p>\n
\"Accusations against village heads can always be placed in the
\npresent political mainstream -- the purging of what is popularly
\ncalled KKN (corruption, collusion and nepotism),\" said Djadja
\nAhmad Badja, head of the village council.<\/p>\n
The falling village heads have much in common. They were
\naccused of being involved in the illegal selling of public
\nproperty, in collecting illegal levies, fund-raising, graft or
\nthe fabrication of school certificates.<\/p>\n
In Tangerang, hundreds of Babakan Asem villagers carried a
\ncoffin to the Tangerang administration office. They were
\nprotesting against their village head, who they accused of
\nselling a 10,000-square-meter cemetery for his own benefit. They
\ndemanded the regent fire the village head.<\/p>\n
In Kuningan, the Sidaraja village head was removed after waves
\nof mass protest against blatant nepotism. The village head, said
\nprotesters, appointed his children, cousins and nephews as his
\nsecretary, treasurer, head of the village council and other
\nposts.<\/p>\n
\"Soeharto is not the only one to practice nepotistic
\nleadership. Our village head did the same. So he should resign,\"
\na protester said.<\/p>\n
There are other misdeeds commonly practiced by village heads
\n-- the fabrication of school certificates and polygamy.<\/p>\n
One of the main requirements for a candidate running for
\nvillage head is that he or she must be a graduate of primary
\nschool at the very least. Primary school dropouts often manage to
\npass the nomination test by submitting faked certificates. This
\nusually worked before protests broke out.<\/p>\n
Whereas polygamy, though considered acceptable by some, is a
\nserious violation of a government regulation imposed on all civil
\nservants.<\/p>\n
Being a village chief gives one not only power and prestige.
\nUnder the village administration rule, every head-elect is given
\na plot of land, tanah bengkok, which usually covers a huge area.
\nVillage heads are entitled to utilize this land however they see
\nfit and may rent it out or work the land themselves.<\/p>\n
According to Endang Suhendar, senior researcher of the AKATIGA
\nsocial research center, village head candidates are willing to
\nspend tens of millions of rupiah for the opportunity to glean
\ngains from the land.<\/p>\n
\"So the first 'program' a village head-elect launches is to
\nget back the money he spent during the election campaign. And the
\nnext program is to enrich himself. The next program is to improve
\nthe welfare of his family, relatives, cronies, etc.\"<\/p>\n
He said that people are unsurprised by the various financial
\nirregularities attributed to village heads. \"From the very
\nbeginning, a village head candidate is known to covert the
\nposition for money. And people accept it by receiving payoffs
\nfrom the candidate they support\".<\/p>\n
Despite the mounting public pressure, most village heads are
\nreluctant to step down.<\/p>\n
\"If they want me to step down now,\" said Ara Hidayat, head of
\nLagadar village on the outskirts of Bandung, \"they should put Rp
\n50 million on my table now. That's the amount I spent during the
\ncampaign.\"<\/p>\n
Hidayat was accused of illegally selling public land,
\nreceiving bribes from textile factories to overlook their
\npractice of dumping waste, fabrication of his school certificate.<\/p>\n
Toha Maksum, head of Sidamulya village in Cilacap regency,
\nlocated on the border of West and Central Java, went wild and
\noffensive after people demanded that he step down. He is now
\nunder psychiatric treatment.<\/p>\n
\"He is the victim of reform. Poor him,\" commented a local
\nresident.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the way many people are staging protests has begun
\nto get out of line.<\/p>\n
Last month in Gintungreja village of the same regency,
\nprotesters forced their village head, Hartoyo, to stand in the
\nsun in front of the administration office from 8 a.m to 5 p.m.<\/p>\n
During the ordeal, the protesters forced Hartoyo, a police
\nsergeant major, to sign a statement saying he would return a
\ncertain amount of his wealth to the people.<\/p>\n
\"They (protesters) have crossed the line. That is blatant
\nabuse of human rights,\" said Soepriono, a member of Cilacap legal
\naid team.<\/p>\n
They also terrorize defiant village heads with midnight phone
\ncalls and threats.<\/p>\n
Hundreds of village heads in Banjarnegara regency recently
\nmarched to the local legislature to demand protection.<\/p>\n
\"They, who claim to be reformists, threatened my family,
\ndamaged and looted our home,\" said Hermanto, head of Simbang
\nvillage.<\/p>\n
Why have villagers become more critical and courageous these
\ndays?<\/p>\n
Before answering, Prof. Dr. Kusnaka Kantaprawira, sociological
\nexpert at Bandung's Padjadjaran University, stressed the words
\n\"these days\" in the question.<\/p>\n
\"Villagers have been more critical and courageous compared to
\nwell-educated people in cities. This reform fever boosted their
\ncritical level and courage,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He is of the view that Soeharto's floating mass policy, under
\nwhich villages were excluded from political campaigns, failed to
\nstifle people's political awareness.<\/p>\n
The current procedure of village heads approval, by which
\nregents are more decisive, has also contributed a great deal to
\nrural turmoil.<\/p>\n
\"An eligible and respected figure cannot become village head
\nif he fails to please his superiors by paying them off,\"
\nKantaprawira said.<\/p>\n
Kantaprawira offered a solution to keeping village life in
\norder. First, this approval procedure, including the floating
\nmass policy, should be abolished.<\/p>\n
Second, villages should be left to run their own
\nadministration and to decide for themselves what is good for
\ntheir future and development.<\/p>\n
Just as important is people empowerment by non-governmental
\norganizations. Kantaprawira termed the new role NGOs should play
\nas \"village consultants\".<\/p>\n
\"They (NGOs) have the capability in showing communities their
\npotential and how to develop it,\" he said.<\/p>",
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