Farmers protest over land in Semarang

SEMARANG (JP): Around 150 farmers staged a demonstration at the provincial legislature office here on Friday to demand that the government return land which they claim was taken from them arbitrarily. The farmers came from the Central Java regencies of Bantang and Kendal.

"We just want the land which we tilled for years to be given back to us so we can grow crops to feed our families during the crisis," the farmers' leader Sanuri said.

He said many past land appropriations in the two regions had caused farmers to suffer.

Sanuri also cited intimidation by the military.

"We have always lost and this must be stopped," he said.

Muhajirin, the head of land affairs at the Semarang Legal Aid Institute office, said he supported the farmers' demand.

He said the government must take the initiative and give farmers back their land to help them through the crisis.

Friday's protest here was the latest in a series of similar protests in various parts of the country which have been organized to coincide with the 38th anniversary of the 1960 Agararian Law, which fell on Sept. 24.

On Friday, farmers also staged a protest at the governors office in the West Nusa Tenggara capital of Mataram.

Antara reported that hundreds of farmers came from the Central Lombok villages of Kuta, Tanak Au, Penujak and Senggol and from the village of Sire in West Lombok to demand the return of land which they said the government had taken from them.

They said the land had been taken to build an airport, golf courses and other tourist facilities.

Their request of a meeting with Governor Harun Alrasyid could not be met because the latter was out of town.

On Thursday, non-government organizations grouped in the Consortium for Agrarian Reform (KPA) said farmers' protests staged recently in Medan, Palembang, Lampung, Jakarta, Ujungpandang, Denpasar and Bandung were the result of years of land policies under the New Order government that ignored their needs. "The government frequently issues new land use permits for lands that have been used by local communities for generations," it said.

In their statement signed by chairman Noer Fauzi, the consortium called on the government to set up a temporary National Commission for Agrarian Dispute Settlement given the absence of a special agrarian court.

Noer Fauzi said the government should also review all land use rules which favor large companies at the expense of smallholder farmers. (har/aan)