Kalideres big family protests at City Council
Kalideres big family protests at City Council
JAKARTA (JP): More than 150 members of a family living
together in Kalideres, West Jakarta, went to the City Council
yesterday to ask for help in the settlement of their land dispute
with state oil company Pertamina.
A lawyer representing the group, Djudjung Panjaitan, said they
were the legal owners of the 1.3-hectare plot where they were
currently living.
Pertamina claims the plot is part of a 20.5-hectare site it
bought, reportedly from developer PT Susam, in 1991.
"In fact the 1.3-hectare plot of land belongs to the
residents. They never sold their property to any developer,"
Panjaitan said.
Haji Bentong's family were refusing to move away from their
land, he said. If Pertamina wanted to buy the land, the company
should buy it directly from them, at the market price of Rp 1
million (US$392) per square meter, he said.
Before any settlement was reached, a big Betawi-styled house
belonging to the family was torn down by West Jakarta Mayoralty
officers last Wednesday on a request from Pertamina.
One of the land appropriation employees of PT Susam, M.
Nurjaya, however confirmed that Pertamina's land did not cover
the residents' land on Jl. Peta Selatan.
Part of Pertamina's land had been sold by the oil company's
own officials and was developed into a housing complex, shops and
school buildings, Panjaitan said.
The family members who went to the City Council yesterday,
ranging in age from under five to over 70, admitted they had lost
their land ownership certificates following an incident with the
late Kalideres subdistrict head, Gani, Panjaitan said.
Gani wanted to sell the family's land to PT Sirinco Jaya
Marmer Industry in 1979, the lawyer said.
Sirinco, however, changed its mind after learning that the
documents had been obtained illegally.
"Since then the residents have never had the certificates. But
their ownership could be proved if they were allowed to do
research ... at the National Land Agency," Panjaitan said.
The family met with MU. Fatommy Asaari of the Golkar faction,
Lukman Mokoginta of the Indonesian Democratic Party faction and
Ahmad Suaedi of the United Development Party faction.
The councillors promised to discuss the problem in council
meetings with related parties.
Wednesday's demolition, conducted with assistance from police
and military personnel, followed a refusal by the family to
vacant the property.
At least four people were injured when the officers forced
them to move.
The head of the family, Haji Bentong, said that parts of the
house used to be rented by nine other families, while the
remaining space was occupied by his relatives.
But the nine families moved after the mayoralty paid them.
"More than 150 members of our big family then moved into the
house," he said.
Abdul Salam, 34, one of the wounded residents, said he was
beaten and dragged to the nearby Kalideres police subprecinct.
"We asked the City Police chief and the Jakarta Military
commander to punish their arrogant officers," Salam, who wore a
T-shirt stained with blood, said.
Twelve residents of Jl. Tanggul Jaya, Penjaringan, in North
Jakarta, also went to the City Council yesterday, demanding the
North Jakarta Mayoralty postpone evicting them from their homes
built on the Cisadane riverbank for one year.
The residents' spokesman, Sunarno, said that at least 1,600
families, or more than 5,000 people, lived on the three-kilometer
riverbank.
"We knew that the land was not ours. But give us enough time
to make preparations to move," he said.
He said the North Jakarta Mayoralty planned to clear their
makeshift houses next week.
Sunarno said the mayoralty also said that the residents would
be paid Rp 50,000 (US$19.2) a house. "It's not enough for us," he
said.
The residents were received by several coucillors, led by
Saamin from the Golkar faction.
Saamin promised to discuss the problem with related parties in
council meetings. (jun/07)