Measures against official demanded

TANGERANG (JP): Bencongan villagers urged Tangerang regent Agus Djunara on Saturday to take stern action against a local regency official for his alleged involvement in the illegal sale of a four-hectare plot of land.

The official, identified as Hafrudin who is now head of Pamulang district, is one of three officials allegedly involved in the illegal land sale.

The two other officials, namely H. Djana and Endang Suparman, are the former heads of Bencongan and Cukanggalih villages respectively. Both were dismissed from their jobs.

"The regent should settle the corruption case fully by bringing the case to court. Don't defend the guilty party through various arguments," Stephanus LB, one of the villagers' lawyer, said.

Transparency in the case is badly needed, especially during the current reform era, so as to prevent confusion among the residents, he said.

The wrongdoing in the land sale came to the surface when landowners in Cukanggalih subdistrict complained that they had not received full compensation for their land bought by the head of Bencongan subdistrict with funds resulting from a deal with development company Lippo Karawaci.

Under the deal, the developer bought the four-hectare plot of land from the Bencongan subdistrict for Rp 2 billion (US$181,818). The Bencongan subdistrict, in turn, used the money from the deal to buy four hectares of land in Cukanggalih subdistrict, where it plans to build boardinghouses.

Local villagers forced the Bencongan subdistrict office to close on Aug. 31 in protest over the slow process in the investigation of the case. (41/ivy)