Installation of high voltage cables delayed
BOGOR, West Java (JP): The completion of high voltage cables in four villages was delayed yesterday, as residents persuaded technicians and security officers to wait for the settlement of compensation claims.
And residents said they were unsure whether the project to install 500-kilovolt cables would continue today.
Technicians finished installing only two of seven lengths of cable Saturday.
Yesterday some 120 military officers of the Gaining Bat unit patrolled villages to guard technicians from PLN, the state-owned electricity company which owns the project.
Earlier in the morning 15 officers carrying steel shields and rattan sticks, marched to the paddy fields around Cibentang and Ciseeng villages, the site of the giant electric pylons.
Nipan, 52, a villager from Cibentang, represented others in negotiating with security officers.
To convince officers he had met the police chief to settle the problem, Nipan showed them the business card of Bogor Police Chief Lt. Col. Ruslan Riza.
Nipan said he alone had lost more than 30 durian trees to make way for the cables.
Families affected by the project want adequate compensation for their property before moving from the project site. However PLN has only agreed to compensate their fruit trees.
Residents say it is the threat of radiation, not the project itself they are resisting.
More than 100 families in one village live on the 91,800 square meters of land which PT PLN is appropriating for the project.
Around 10 villagers from Cibentang and Ciseeng remained on guard throughout Sunday night, fearful of technicians mounting the cables at night.
Two weeks ago residents decided to conduct daily night watches of the 20-meter-high pylons.
PLN's electricians attempted to climb one of the pylons at 2 a.m. yesterday, Abdul Madjid, 40, one of the Ciseeng residents, said.
"They disguised themselves in military costumes but we were able to persuade them not to install the cables," he added.
"But at 6 a.m. we saw two electricians had already mounted a pylon," Madjid said.
Madjid said technicians tried to sneak into their plots at night, but villagers were alerted by bamboo alarms.
On Saturday around 3,000 villagers from Cibentang, Ciseeng, Cihohe and Kuripan staged a protest at the heavily-guarded installation, causing a traffic jam.
The villagers' cause is backed by several student organizations, including students from the National Institute of Science and Technology (ISTN), the Jakarta Teachers Training Institute (IKIP Jakarta) and the Indonesian Moslem Student Union (PMII).
Last month, several residents were beaten in a clash with police which residents said was more violent than three previous encounters with the authorities. (07)