Kedungombo victims get compensation
Kedungombo victims get compensation
Blontank Poer, The Jakarta Post, Semarang
The long-standing dispute over the acquisition of land for the
controversial Kedungombo dam in Central Java may soon be over, as
the local administration has finally bowed to residents' demands
for compensation.
Central Java Governor Mardiyanto accepted on Tuesday
compensation demands from around 300 villagers in Boyolali
regency for the loss of their homes and land as a result of the
construction of the dam during former president Soeharto's
regime.
"They (victims) will receive land as compensation for all
their assets, namely houses and land, which were acquired for the
dam development," said Boyamin, a lawyer for the residents at
Kedungpring village in Kemusu subdistrict.
He was speaking to journalists after meeting with Mardiyanto
at the governor's office in Semarang, Central Java.
The villagers, comprising 63 families currently living in the
green belt area just meters away from the dam, will be relocated
to a 17.5-hectare area of land near Kedungombo.
Boyamin said that, of the 63 families, 36 would receive new
housing as compensation for the loss of their former homes, which
were demolished by Soeharto's security forces.
The remaining families were not entitled to new houses because
they were currently living with members of the other 36 families,
he said.
He said the wooden houses, measuring 8 x 10 meters and costing
Rp 25 million each, would be built on the land, which was still
under the control of state-owned forestry company PT Perhutani.
Mardiyanto flew by helicopter to the area covering Tanjung and
Sendangrejo villages in Klego subdistrict, Boyolali, to
officially begin construction of the project, said local
officials, who declined to be named.
On Jan. 22, the governor wrote to Minister of Forestry M.
Prakosa asking for permission to begin work on the new houses.
The letter was sent following an agreement on May 8 last year
between the governor, local agencies and protesting villagers.
The Kedungpring residents had said they only wanted to leave
the green belt area if they were resettled on the Perhutani land
with houses built for them, costing the same amount as those
demolished to make way for the dam.
Soeharto inaugurated the Kedungombo dam in May 1991, which
cost Rp 152 billion.
The megaproject, funded by the World Bank to generate 22.5
megawatts of electricity, attracted international controversy due
to the forced eviction of farmers and residents who were rejected
a compensation offer of just Rp 250 per square meter of land.
Villagers said they had to endure intimidation, a terror
campaign and kidnappings as well as being labeled supporters of
the outlawed Indonesian Communist Party (PKI) as the government
sought to acquire 9,529 hectares of land, home to 5,628 families
in Boyolali and the neighboring regencies of Sragen and Grobogan.
Soeharto even branded them as Mbalelo, a Javanese word for
stubborn rebels.
Many residents were resettled to regions outside Java under
the transmigration program, while others continued to struggle
for adequate compensation.
The residents of Kedungpring were known as the most outspoken
during protests against the dam project.
While some residents reluctantly signed appropriation papers
authorizing the surrender of their land and accepted compensation
amid fears of further intimidation, the Kedungpring villagers
refused to do so.
They set up the Association of Kedungombo Dam Victims, which
boasted members from 17 hamlets. It conveyed their protests and
grievances to the then Central Java governor, Suwardi, with the
help of legal aid offices in Semarang and Jakarta.