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.