Thu, 13 Feb 2003

Compensation may disrupt road completion

Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang, Banten

A disagreement over compensation for land to make way for the construction of a new four-kilometer road from Tangerang municipality to Soekarno-Hatta International Airport may hamper the completion of the road.

As of Tuesday, eight residents were still rejecting the compensation offered by the Tangerang mayoralty and opted not to leave their homes in Mekarsari and Neglasari subdistricts on the grounds that the amount offered was far below the market value of their land.

"The administration previously vowed to compensate us for our home according to the market value," Aprilanata, one resident, told The Jakarta Post.

He is one of two Neglasari subdistrict residents who have rejected the administration's offer of Rp 150,000 (US$16.60) compensation per square meter of land.

"We demand compensation of Rp 250,000 per square meter as it is supposed to include the value of the building," said the 32- year-old father of two, who owns 400 square meters of land with a 216-square-meter permanent house and a smaller semi-permanent one standing on it.

He rejected the Rp 125 million compensation offered by the Tangerang administration, arguing that the total value of his land and buildings was Rp 625 million.

"My home is situated right by the road, therefore its selling value has to be higher than the one located behind mine," he said.

He claimed that Abdulhadi, who lives behind his house, had received Rp 250 million while the actual selling value of his land was only Rp 125 million.

Aprilanata complained that he had been fobbed off by a mayoralty official named Edith Haruni when he attempted to find out how much other residents had been paid for their property.

The new asphalt road, which will be named Jl. Marsekal Surya Darma II, will cost some Rp 50 billion. The road is being jointly built by PT Angkasa Pura, the airport management, and the Tangerang mayoralty.

Angkasa Pura is financing the physical construction of the road, which stretches along the tributary of the Cisadane River past Mekarsari, Neglasari and Selapajang subdistricts, while the mayoralty is financing the land clearance. The project is 90 percent completed.

Rais, 60, a resident of Mekarsari subdistrict, rejected the Rp 80 million compensation offered by the administration, arguing that his property was worth Rp 125 million.

"We've heard that Angkasa Pura handed Rp 1 million to the administration to be used to pay compensation for every square meter of residents' property, but the administration just offered Rp 150,000," he said.

He said that he and seven other residents -- Surya, Bertha, Ukanda, Florent, Akim, Irsan and Aprilanata -- would not leave their homes until the administration met their demands for proper compensation.

Responding to the residents' claims, Tangerang administration secretary Wahidin Halim challenged the residents to prove their claims.

"Four hundred and sixty-eight other residents accepted equal compensation. Just check. The administration has spent Rp 20 billion of its annual budget for land appropriation, and if we pay the eight residents higher than the others, the latter will protest, which will then trigger tension," he told the Post.

Halim said the average market value of land in the area was Rp 100,000 per square meter, but the administration had offered Rp 150,000.

"Everyone is paid equally. There is no preferential treatment for those living along the road.

"If they (the eight residents) remain firm with their demands, we'll take legal action against them because the road should have been completed last month," the official said.