'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