Airport in Solo to be expanded

BOYOLALI, Central Java: Some 360 villagers say they are prepared to give up their land to make way for the expansion of the Adisumarmo airport in Surakarta (Solo) if the price is right.

They insisted that the compensation must reflect the market value of the land in the area.

Boyolali Regent Syahrial Makgalatung is heading the committee to negotiate and set the compensation.

Several villagers said they have been informed about the airport expansion project but they had no idea how much the government was willing to pay.

"We won't mind if the compensation is adequate for us to buy land and build a new house in another area," says Sugino, one of the villagers.

Because of the project, the price of land in the areas has soared by 100 percent to Rp 20,000 per square meter.

Under the project, the airport's runway will be expanded from 1,950 to 3,600 meters to accommodate wider-body aircraft. (har/rms)