Compensation may disrupt road completion
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.