Mafia blamed for loss of public land

Apriadi Gunawan, Medan

Hundreds of hectares of public land in Medan, North Sumatra, formerly managed by the State Plantation Company II (PTPN II), has been illegally sold by local "land mafia" who are driving out squatters in the area, an activist group's report says.

The mafia had sold a large part of the land to private companies, which later developed it into housing complex, the report said.

Another report by North Sumatra's provincial government confirmed most of the exploited land had title certificates illegally issued by local district and National Land Agency officials.

North Sumatra People's Mandate Forum (FAMSU) coordinator Edirianto said 570 houses had already been built in the Pasar III and XII areas in Medan's Marendal district. "There are still many more (houses) to come. We have found the land was often guarded by security personnel," Edirianto told The Jakarta Post. The practice had gone for about four years, he said.

More than 345 hectares of former PTPN II land in the Selambo, Amplas and Percut Sei Tuan districts were also controlled by this mafia, he said.

Heavy machinery including tractors and excavators were being used to demolish squatter camps and trees where land had been claimed for housing developments. There were also reports the land would be turned into an industrial area, Edirianto said.

Squatters in the areas said groups of hoodlums had been threatening them and were effectively controlling the locations. In collaboration with security personnel, the men were happy to use violence against any squatters who defended their claims to the land.

A local, Hutagalung, said his family were forced to give up their land and told they would receive compensation of just Rp 1,000 a meter. However, the land mafia then demanded 50 percent of that sum, he said.

PTPN II spokesman Modal Pencawan confirmed that most of the land the formerly managed by his company had been illegally sold.

However, he said that PTPN II was not authorized to deal with the situation because the company's rights to use the state land had expired four years ago and had been taken over by the "B Plus" team formed by the North Sumatra provincial government.

The land had automatically become a state land, he said.

At one time the PTPN II had managed 5,900 hectares spread throughout Medan city, Binjai, Langkat and the Deli Serdang regencies. All its permits for these areas had now expired, he said.

Government spokesman Eddy Sofyan said the administration had found evidence that corrupt district and BPN officials were involved in issuing ownership certificates for the plots of land.

He said that Governor Rizal Nurdin had urged regency and mayoralty heads to discipline their subordinates who were allegedly involved in the case. Their activities were illegal as land still owned by the state could not be commercialized, Eddy said.