Farmers' violent protests jeopardize tobacco exports

JAKARTA (JP): Angry farmers, who have been burning down tobacco processing facilities and offices in Jenggawah, East Java, are jeopardizing Indonesia's tobacco exports, a local official warned yesterday.

"Following the incidents, importers of Besuki Na Oogst tobacco have been inquiring on the continuity of our exports," Poerwadi Djojonegoro, chief of the local branch of the state-owned PTP-27 plantation company, said in Surabaya.

Minister of Agriculture Sjarifudin Baharsjah has estimated the total loss, due to the arson, at "more than Rp 1 billion (US$440,000)" but Poerwadi put it at "about Rp 3.5 billion."

Poerwadi warned that the internationally famed Na Oogst tobacco will be history if the government bows to the farmers' demand to own the land.

"We hope that the conflict can be resolved amicably and that exports are not affected," he said as reported by Antara.

Angry farmers, demanding ownership of the 2,800 hectares of state land, have burned down over 40 tobacco storehouses, offices and vehicles in a series of violent protests over the past two weeks.

The farmers, many of whom have tilled the land for decades, were infuriated by a government's plan to extend the leasehold of the disputed land to the company.

Right

They insisted that under agrarian laws, they have the right to own the property inherited from Dutch colonial administrators because they have used the land for a great many years.

The military has stepped into the conflict, barring both the farmers and the company from using the land until the conflict is resolved.

Poerwadi said that in every two years, under the current arrangement, the company uses the land for seven months, to grow tobacco, and the farmers for 17 months, to grow other crops.

"The company has always honored the arrangement although it has never been put in a formal written agreement," he said.

Minister of Agrarian Affairs/Chairman of the National Land Agency Soni Harsono has made it clear that the government will not succumb to the farmers' demand.

Poerwadi said he hoped that the farmers would stop their violent protests so the company could harvest its tobacco on time.

He said the series of demonstrations have not only wrought havoc to the plantation but also disturbed the company's employees from doing their jobs.

"We hope that we can harvest the tobacco as planed so that we can fulfill our commitment to our customers abroad," Poerwadi said. (pan)