Farmers protest land dispute

SEMARANG: About 1,500 farmers grouped in Central Java's Farming Organization or Ortaja staged a loud protest in front of the City Council building on Friday, demanding their confiscated land be returned.

The farmers claimed that their land was "appropriated" by authorities under various excuses during the New Order era.

The farmers came by truck from the regencies of Kendal, Demak, Batang, Semarang and Banjarnegara.

Provincial House Speaker Marjio met with the protesters and promised to help them solve their claims. Marjio acknowledged that many plots were forcibly taken over in the past.

"We want the government to reimburse our plots which were used for various projects such as plantations, dams or land concessions," Moch. Rois, the group coordinator, said.

Security forces tightly guarded the group, which eventually dispersed after the dialog ended. (har/edt)