Company, locals in conflict over big resort project
Company, locals in conflict over big resort project
Ridwan Max Sijabat and Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Merek
Calm has returned to a tourist resort in Merek subdistrict, some
120 kilometers southeast of the North Sumatran provincial capital
of Medan, following days of protest against a large tourist
resort being constructed there.
Police were no longer guarding the project site, and more than
150 workers resumed their work constructing roads, a golf course
and a temple on the 200-hectare area.
Vehicles and trucks carrying workers and materials were again
free to enter and leave the site, with protesters removing their
roadblocks.
"Thank God, the situation is under control and all workers are
back at work. We hope it will last so that they can work in
safety," Sahariadi Sidabalok, a project construction manager,
told The Jakarta Post.
PT Merek Indah Lestari (PT MIL), a foreign-owned company, is
developing the hill resort in the Gorat Ni Padang area.
Dozens of residents of Kodon-kodon village, which faces onto
Lake Toba and is located below the project site, recently chopped
down trees and placed logs across entrance roads to the project
in protest at the company's refusal to pay compensation to
villagers who claim their farm lands were affected by a landslide
caused by the project.
The landslide damaged at least three hectares of paddy fields
and farming land.
The project also sparked controversy as it is alleged that it
is encroaching upon protected forest areas, and that a part of
the project is located on critical land.
PT MIL president Mustika Akbar told the Post that the company
was still waiting for clarification from the local administration
about ownership of farm lands affected by the landslide before it
paid out the compensation.
"The management has decided to pay compensation to several
more people but they must prove that their farm lands were
affected by the landslide," he said.
He said the landslide affected land belonging to about 20
farmers and that the company had earlier this month paid out
hundreds of millions of rupiah in compensation to them.
"But, after that, three or four more villagers came to our
offices demanding compensation. They later provoked others to
stage a protest after they failed to obtain the compensation," he
said.
Asked about allegations that the project endangered the
environment, Mustika said the tourist resort did not encroach on
protected forests or critical land, as proven by the local
administration's permit to build tourist facilities in the area.
The company, belonging to a Singaporean investor, obtained a
permit a few months after it bought the large area from residents
of Kodon-kodon, Pangambatan and Paropo Villages in 2000.
He admitted, however, that the company had not conducted a
environmental impact study for the resort project.
The firm is building a five-hole golf course, an inter-faith
park, a five-star hotel, a greenhouse aquarium, and eight
hectares of horticultural gardens on the site. The project
employs over 1,000 local people.
Anton Bahrul Alam Munthe and Monang Simanjorang of Kodon-kodon
said they were not against the project, but were just demanding
justice.
"They promised to pay compensation, but it never
materialized," Anton said.