Farmers set up own organization

YOGYAKARTA: The Organization of Free Farmers was proclaimed on Friday at the end of a three-day gathering of farmers from Yogyakarta and southern areas of Central Java.

The congress, attended by about 100 farmers from 13 regencies, issued a statement announcing the organization's demands and the establishment of the Free Farmers Union.

The statement said farmers had not gained a strong bargaining position with the government, which they said had issued many policies that had been to their disadvantage. The congress was facilitated by the local branch of the Legal Aid Institute.

They demanded that the government allow for the "right of local potential in farming technology to grow", and that land disputes should be settled justly.

Existing laws and rules, the farmers said, have not provided protection for farmers, and instead "have been used to facilitate the interests of a few people and capital owners who draw profit from natural exploitation". (swa)