'For the people's benefit? That's a lie!'

'For the people's benefit? That's a lie!'

The issuance of Presidential Regulation No. 36/2005 on land
acquisition for the development of public projects has given the
government more power to compulsorily purchase land from private
citizens in the name of the public interest. The Jakarta Post
talked to local residents about this issue.

Andre Haviziena, 29, is an employee at United Nations for
Indonesian Reform. He rents a room at Pos Pengumben, West
Jakarta:

I think the regulation will not be effective. Why? First, the
government is corrupt, so whatever they do will not get any
positive response from the people.

Meanwhile, people are defying the law and regulations because
they always think of the government as an oppressive power. The
perception arises because, during the New Order regime, the
government always evicted people by force with inadequate
compensation for landowners.

If we want to solve the problem, the first thing to do is that
the government will have to prove that they are clean. This means
that in any land acquisition transaction negotiations must be
conducted transparently.

Second, they must really prove that the land acquisitions are
meant to improve people's welfare, and not for the interests of
businesspeople.

Maria, 40, is a housewife. She lives with her family in the
Rawa Belong area, West Jakarta:

I can't believe such a regulation could be issued by the
government in this reform era. They should be more sensitive
because there have been too many land acquisitions in which the
people always got nothing.

The people lost because the government always argued that the
acquisitions were in the interests of the people, but in the end,
it was only in the interest of investors.

For example, back in the 1960s lots of people were evicted by
the government from the Senayan area, arguing that it would be to
build public facilities. But look now, Senayan has turned into a
malls and hotels that only rich people can enjoy. Does the
government regret telling such lies? No!

So, why trust them? Why must we obey the law and regulations
if civil servants at the land office and the city planners are
still colluding with businesspeople to change the city's policies
on land and city plans?

--The Jakarta Post