Farmers, policemen injured in clash
Farmers, policemen injured in clash
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Dozens of people, including two policemen, were injured as
farmers and police clashed on Sunday over a dispute in connection
with land earmarked for the construction of an airport in Central
Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB).
The disturbances erupted at around 10 a.m. after police
forcibly evicted local farmers who occupied a block of land in
Penujap, where the planned airport is be built.
Tension was high in the area following the riot, Antara
reported.
Herman, an activist with the NTB Farmers Union, a non-
governmental organization, was quoted as saying that at least 27
farmers were injured in the clash.
They mostly suffered gunshot wounds while two police officers
had been wounded by arrows.
At least eight farmers were arrested and brought to the local
police station.
However, the West Nusa Tenggara Police were unable to give
further information on the incident and the suspects.
"I haven't been formally notified about the incident by the
Central Lombok Police," NTB Police spokesperson Adj. Sr. Comr. M.
Basri was quoted as saying.
The land in question had reportedly been acquired by the local
administration for the construction of a new airport in Central
Lombok.
The eviction, according to local police, was carried out
following the revocation of a permit granted by the National
Police chief for the holding of a meeting of local members of an
international farmers organization in Penujap.
The farmers, however, insisted that they had received a
permit, so they pressed ahead with their plan to hold the
meeting.
After the violence, 11 members of the international farmers
group, along with local colleagues, held a peaceful rally in
front of the West Nusa Tenggara Police headquarters.
The farmers demanded that the police officers guarding the
block of land be withdrawn immediately.
Late last month, hundreds of farmers held rallies to protest
the scheduled arrival of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to
the area to attend the ground-breaking ceremony to mark the start
of the airport's construction.
At the time, the protesters brandished traditional weapons,
such as swords, sharpened bamboo sticks and spears following the
arrival of bulldozers at the site.
Land disputes are quite common in the country, with cases of
arbitrary eviction and land takeovers by the government in the
name of development being commonplace.
The Susilo administration recently issued a government
regulation allowing the state to take over land to be used for
the construction of public facilities, even if no agreement was
reached with its owners.
The regulation stipulates 21 types of development projects,
including airports, that are to be given priority.
Despite providing greater clarity over the issue of eminent
domain, the new decree has also raised public concerns and
protests due to fears that the old practices of arbitrary
eviction would continue.