200 residents protest over land transfer

TANGERANG (JP): At least 200 residents of Parung Serab subdistrict in Ciledug district here protested on Wednesday over an alleged illegal transfer of the 25-hectare plot of land they lived on to private firm PT Cipta Keluarga Tama.

They went to the local subdistrict office with five of their representatives going separately to the Tangerang property tax service office, questioning the status of their land.

They asked why their annual property tax notifications had not been issued over the last five years having received information that these were issued in the name of PT Cipta Keluarga Tama.

They claimed to have questioned the notification issuance with the subdistrict head and employees of the tax service office, but had always got the answer that the notifications were still being processed.

"We were shocked when we learned that the notifications were issued under PT Cipta Keluarga Tama's name. We never sold our land to the company," one of the residents, Triadi, who claimed to have a 2,000-square-meter plot, said.

Triadi said the local residents' property tax notifications were issued soon after the company bought a piece of land in the area in 1993, but not in the 25-hectare area.

The residents expressed fear that the issuance of the notifications under the company's name would mean they had lost their land ownership rights even though they still held the legal land ownership documents, he said.

In response to the residents' protest, Sukri, the subdistrict head, said that he was ready to be responsible for the confusion. "I never gave any recommendation for the issuance of notifications under the company's name. It's strange," Sukri told the residents, promising to thoroughly investigate the case.

The tax service office head, Djunaidi Ab-Ham, however, said the issuance of notifications under the company's name was made in line with a recommendation from the subdistrict head.

"The problem is not here because we just issued the notification based on the subdistrict head's recommendation," Djunaidi reiterated.

He said the company paid property taxes on the disputed land until the 1995/1996 fiscal year, but never paid anything for the following years.

He promised to make a new inventory on the residents who were the legitimate owners of the land in the area. (41/jun)