Bekasi regent denies illegal land deal
Bekasi regent denies illegal land deal
BEKASI (JP): Bekasi Regent Mochammad Djamhari has denied the allegation that his staff illegally sold state land in Muara Gembong subdistrict to a private company. Local farmers have established fish ponds on the land.
"It's untrue. I've never issued a single permit to allow any firm to carry out land clearance on the state land in Muara Gembong," the regent told reporters over the weekend.
A number of the farmers protested to the Bekasi Legislative Council recently, complaining that head of the Muara Gembong subdistrict, Iim Ompin Sopiandi, had sold the land.
According to the protesters, they were paid between a mere Rp 150 and Rp 250 (six and 11 U.S. cents) per square meter of land.
The farmers also claimed that a group of unidentified people woke them up in the middle of the night and forced them to sign a blank sheet of paper.
Djamhari said that the only thing that has happened in the subdistrict was "inventory work" carried out by the regency to identify the state-owned land in the area. By having an inventory, the municipality can assess the future prospect of the city, the regent said.
The work, he said, is designed to clarify the borders between land owned by the Ministry of Forestry and that belonging to the regency.
The regent, however, did not explain the presence of a group of people who had required the residents to accept a small payment and move away after being forced to sign the blank page.
When asked to comment on the farmers' protest, Muara Gembong subdistrict head Iim refused to respond.
"I will not give a single comment on whatever the content of the papers, as ordered by my supervisor," said Iim.
"I have submitted all the problems to the Almighty God and my supervisor as well," he added.
In many cases, it is believed that the inventory work sees the people living and working on land, claimed by the authorities as state owned, unhoused with a small amount of compensation.
The plots are believed to be sold to private companies, which will later build modern and luxury projects, leaving the former poor-income people homeless. (12/bsr)