Bogor residents defy land appropriation

Bogor residents defy land appropriation

JAKARTA (JP): About 100 people representing more than 200
villagers from the Bogor regency, West Java, filed a complaint
with the National Commission on Human Rights yesterday over what
they claim was the illegal appropriation of 300 hectares of land
by PT Bahana Sukmasejahtera for a tourism development program.

The residents of Pasir Jaya and Tugu Jaya, 60 km east of the
capital, crowded the commission's meeting room and hung banners,
some of which said: "Get off our land PT BSS", and "They pay only
Rp 150 (US 7 cent) per square meter in compensation and sell it
for Rp 100,000."

According to their spokesman Dutarso, PT Bahana claims it
successfully bid for 925 hectares of land that belonged to the
state-owned plantation company PTP XI at a 1993 auction and is
therefore entitled to use it as it wishes.

However, the protesters said yesterday that the auctioned land
did not include 300 hectares they had obtained in 1945.

Another complaint is the role of the local authorities. "They
have burdened us with land taxes and other requirements. Why do
they now wash their hands of the case?" Dutarso asked.

Ishak L., PT Bahana's operations manager, told The Jakarta
Post the land covers nine villages, including the 300 hectares
around Pasir Jaya and Tugu Jaya.

The protesters told commission member Munawir Szadjali, who is
a former minister of religious affairs, that PT Bahana has
already bulldozed 90 hectares of their land in Pasir Jaya since
January, destroying the crops and any buildings standing on it.

"We never received the Rp 150 per square meter which the
company management said they had paid to the land owners,"
Dutarso said. "Anyway, what use is Rp 150 compensation? Its
nothing."

The villagers said they would not mind having their land used
by the company, "but there should be fair compensation," Ratmini,
one of the protesters, said.

According to her, the land is currently worth at least Rp
36,000 per square meter.

"We found that the company paid some people Rp 15,000 per
square meter, now they offer us only Rp 150" Gultom, another
protester, said.

The disparity in the amounts arises from what the land was
used for, according to Ishak. He said PT Bahana valued land
occupied by buildings at the higher value and unoccupied land at
the lower value.

The villagers said they had tried to contact the management,
whom they said was not available for consultation.

"The company management keeps telling us that the order comes
from a son of President Soeharto," some of them said yesterday,
adding that this was their way of scaring the villagers.

Commission member Munawir Szadjali urged the protesters
yesterday not to cause any disturbances in their village as they
threatened to do. He said he would send a team to investigate the
matter next week. (03)