20 farmers protest over land acquisition

20 farmers protest over land acquisition

JAKARTA (JP): Twenty South Sumatran farmers protested at the
House of Representatives yesterday over the appropriation of
their land, by various private and state-owned companies, without
compensation.

Representing over 500 farming families in several regencies,
the farmers demanded that the House help them to gain
compensation from both the government and private companies that
took their property.

Despite a wait of eight hours in the House foyer, the
delegation was not granted an audience with House Speaker Wahono.
They said they would try again today to speak with Wahono.

Chalid Muhammad, a member of the Indonesian Forum for the
Environment, accompanied the farmers to the House. He told
journalists that the delegates wanted to discuss the matter with
Wahono only.

"They refuse to return to their home town until they have seen
Wahono," he said.

Mat Sidi, representing 187 families in Lubuk Rukam village in
the Ogan Komering Ulu regency, said the villagers wanted to be
compensated for 1,237 hectares of land which had been taken over
by PTP Mitra Ogan, a government-owned palm oil plantation.

He said the company had cleared the land of their crops at
night and that no compensation had been offered.

He said that the residents had previously filed complaints
with the local administration and the local legislative council,
arguing that the appropriation was unlawful, but that there had
been no results.

A. Koim, a resident of Muara Enim regency who is representing
the Benakat clan, which traditionally controls 3,000 hectares of
forested land, said that PT Musi Hutan Persada, a company jointly
owned by PT Barito Pacific and the state-owned PT Inhutani II,
had illegally cleared the forest for the timber.

The company had offered the Benakat clan Rp 60,000 (US$27) per
hectare, he said, adding that the people had rejected the offer
as being too low.

"We want fair compensation for our land," he said. The clan
had also taken their complaint about compensation to the company,
Koim said, but they had not received a reply.

The delegation took their complaints to the National
Commission on Human Rights on Tuesday. (imn)