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)