Bangka residents take protest to DPR

Bangka residents take protest to DPR

JAKARTA (JP): About 1,000 farm families on Bangka Island,
southern Sumatra, are struggling to regain their land that they
claim has been grabbed by a palm oil plantation company.

They sent a delegate to the House of Representatives (DPR)
yesterday to seek the legislator's help in regaining their 4,000
hectares of land currently controlled by PT Gunung Sawit Bina
Lestari.

They received assurances from legislators from the Indonesian
Democratic Party that their plight would be referred to the
relevant government agencies.

Spokesman for the farmers Abang Syarifuddin told the
legislators that the peasants want the ownership of their
property returned.

"We want our land back. We have tilled it generation after
generation," Abang said, adding that the farmers have the
necessary tax documents to prove their ownership of the land. "We
pay taxes every year."

On the 4,000-hectares of land under dispute farmers grow cash
crops such as rubber, pepper, and fruit. The company maintains
that the land belongs to the state and is offering no
compensation to the peasants. But it is willing to give Rp 150
(US$0.06) for each tree on the land, a sum that has flatly been
rejected by the farmers.

"PT Gunung Sawit Bina Lestari must first obtain the official
permits to use the land before it can start with its palm oil
plantation," said Tarto Suroh, another delegation member.

Tarto said that the plantation company has rejected the
government's suggestion of employing the farmers if the land is
acquired.

The management of PT Gunung Sawit Bina Lestari was not
available for comment yesterday.

PDI legislator Sukowaluyo Mintorahardjo said the faction will
bring the matter to the next hearings with related government
officials.

Sukowaluyo also urged the plantation company and the local
government to suspend the development activities on the land
until the dispute is solved. (imn)