Koja residents will fight for higher compensation
Koja residents will fight for higher compensation
JAKARTA (JP): Residents in Koja Utara subdistrict in North Jakarta have pledged to continue fighting for higher compensation for their land, despite being warned off by the mayor.
Head of the Koja resident's delegation H.M. Saman told reporters that all of his members will continue to fight because they have rights to the land and the battle is not over yet.
"The mayor has lied, we are not losing in court because we filed an appeal to High Court, and the residents never made any negative statements which can cause unrest," Saman said.
Saman said on March 7, Mayor Suprawito made a false statement before the press saying that Koja residents had lost in court and that the residents lied by saying that security officers had intimidated them.
"The intimidation did happen. As a result many of our members accepted the compensation rate set by the mayoralty because they were frightened," Saman said.
Saman said that there are around 3,000 residents who rejected the compensation.
The dispute over the land compensation arose after PT Pelindo II announced last year it would appropriate 90 hectares of land inhabited by 9,037 families of almost 40,000 people. The company plans to build a cargo terminal expansion in a joint-venture with PT Humpuss, the widely diversified business group owned by President Soeharto's youngest son, Hutomo Mandala Putra.
After a number of previously tedious negotiations failed to reach an agreement, North Jakarta Mayor Suprawito decided to break the deadlock by offering between Rp 100,000 (US$46.8) and Rp 160,000 ($75) per square meter, Rp 10,000 higher than the rate set by PT Pelindo II.
The Koja residents, however, insisted that the compensation be set at Rp 2.275 million, which is even higher than the rate offered by private developers to residents living in the most expensive business districts in the city.
Koja Utara subdistrict, located adjacent to the Tanjung Priok container terminal, has been earmarked for a new cargo terminal site. The new terminal, which is being built at a cost of US$498- million, is expected to start operation in October 1998.
Saman said residents have the right to the land based on a letter from the governor to Pelindo and a letter from the minister of finance to the minister of transportation.
"The letter states that the land appropriation in Koja should be conducted safely and the residents should receive appropriate compensation," Saman said. (yns)