Cipta Jaya seeking justice in 800-hectare land dispute
Cipta Jaya seeking justice in 800-hectare land dispute
JAKARTA (JP): The PT Cipta Jaya Raya plantation company
asserted over the weekend that the 800 hectares of land in
Labuhan Batu, North Sumatra, whose ownership is being disputed by
PT Indo Sepadan Jaya, is part of its 1,300-ha estate concession.
"The plot of land which has been cultivated by Indo Sepadan is
part of my concession on the basis of the Right of Land
Exploitation (land title) No. 2/1994 that I obtained from the
Labuhan Batu office of the National Land Agency," said Surya,
Cipta Jaya's director.
Surya was commenting on House member Bachtiar Chamzah's
allegations made last Wednesday, as quoted by this newspaper,
that the justification for granting Cipta Jaya the land title for
its 1,300-ha plantation concession in January 1994 was
questionable.
Surya produced copies of the certified detailed site plan,
which shows that his concession borders the 3,885-ha area
currently being cultivated by Indo Sepadan. The two concessions,
he said, are clearly demarcated.
He also rejected as groundless Bachtiar's allegations that
Cipta Jaya had neglected its concession.
"I obtained my land title only on Jan. 24, 1994, on the basis
of Decree No.32 dated Dec. 4, 1993, from the minister of agrarian
affairs," Surya added.
He said he learned that Indo Sepadan was illegally cultivating
the 800-ha concession in early 1994, when he was making land
development preparations, which include the construction of a
six-kilometer access road to the area.
In fact, he added, the director of Indo Sepadan was found
guilty last month by the district court in Medan of illegally
cultivating Cipta Jaya's land.
He said his company also has filed a civil law suit against
Indo Sepadan at the district court in Medan but that the case is
still being processed.
Surya recounted, with the support of related documents, that
he began the long process of acquiring the concession in 1985
after he obtained a letter of recommendation from the Labuhan
Batu regent.
He said regulations on state land acquisition required him to
follow 12 other steps at various government agencies, including
several site inspections by inter-departmental teams.
All the procedural steps took nearly eight years to complete
until the minister of agrarian affairs in Jakarta finally issued
a decree for his land title in December, 1993, he added.
"Obviously, I cannot start cultivating my concession before
all the required permits have been obtained," Surya said in
denying the allegation that his company had neglected its
concession.
He then asked why the government had not seen to it that Indo
Sepadan return to Cipta Jaya the 800-ha plot of land on which the
former company unlawfully planted oil palm trees.(vin)