Farmers to sue governor over dam
Farmers to sue governor over dam
SEMARANG (JP): Twenty farmers in Central Java are continuing with their struggle to obtain decent compensation for their land, which was appropriated to make way for the Kedungombo dam.
The dam, one of the government's most controversial projects in the last 20 years, has been in operation for six years. The 20 farmers of the Boyolali regency have filed suit against Governor Soewardi, accusing him of violating a home affairs ministerial decree on land compensation.
They also demanded the state confiscate, as collateral, the governor's Rp 7 billion official residence, and compensate them Rp 375,936,882 for material and immaterial damages.
"I have received the farmers' lawsuit and it will be processed within the next few days," said Soeharto, head of Semarang District Court, yesterday.
The World Bank-funded Kedungombo dam attracted national and international attention in early the 1990s as farmers, supported by students and human rights activists, accused the government of intimidating and forcing them to give up their land.
Farmers who refused to surrender their land were branded communists. At least 5,268 families were forced to move and offered low compensation. The World Bank was also under fire for its failure to persuade the government to pay the farmers more.
The Central Java governor at the time was Ismail. Soewardi assumed the post in 1993.
"The governor offered us between Rp 302 to Rp 405 per square meter of land. The compensation price set by the Ministry of Home Affairs was Rp 3,000 per square meter," said the farmers' lawyer Muhammad Syahrir.
When the dam was officially opened by President Soeharto in May 1991, more than 600 families still demanding better compensation. Soeharto said their protests were futile.
The government cleared 9,529 hectares of land in seven regencies, 7,288 hectares of which belonged to local residents. The rest was state property.
The dam cost Rp 152 billion, with Rp 28.2 billion coming from the state budget, Rp 32.5 billion from Exim Bank of Japan and Rp 91.9 billion from the World Bank. At least Rp 69 billion was spent on land compensation for the 5,268 families living in the area.
The project was aimed at preventing floods in Grobogan, Demak, Kudus and Pati. The dam generates up to 22.5 million megawatts of electricity and irrigates at least 75,000 hectares of rice fields.
The Central Java governor could not be reached for comment on the lawsuit. (har/06)