Mobs get own back in land rows

Mobs get own back in land rows

By Pandaya

JAKARTA (JP): A gang of 200 men descended out of the scenic
Cibodas hills of West Java in the middle of the dark night of
July 20. Armed with knives and hoes, they fell upon the golf
course, chopped down trees, dug up the land and raised banners
proclaiming their "victory".

Officials on duty in the clubhouse fled in panic and police
officers guarding the main gate to the course looked at each
other in despair as they realized the expected raid on the course
had taken place right under their noses.

The "invaders" were student-led farmers intent on regaining
land developed into the 33-hectare golf course in Cimacan
village, about two hours drive southeast of here. They claimed
the land which PT Bandung Asri Mulya coercively acquired in
collaboration with the local government in 1987 still rightfully
belonged to them.

"They offered only Rp 30 per square meter in compensation.
Isn't that ridiculous?" said farmer Pardi. "Government officials
have always sided with capitalists."

Local officials, claiming that the disputed land belonged to
the state, leased the site to the firm for 30 years for Rp 90
million. Civil servants who happened to own part of the land were
reportedly threatened with dismissal if they did not surrender
their titles.

Negotiations held under the scorching sun on July 21 between
the frustrated farmers and nervous government and military
officials led nowhere.

The officials suggested the farmers ask the Supreme Court to
reexamine the case. In the late 1980s the same court ruled in
favor of the company.

However, the farmers ignored this advice and instead demanded
the company relinquish the property there and then.

The snubbed officials were then jeered off the scene while the
farmers continued filling man-made lagoons with sand and planting
vegetables.

Golf course employees watching the events unfold expressed
fears that their company's Rp 8 million daily turnover from
catering for wealthy sportsmen would become a thing of the past.

The raid on the Cibodas golf course was only the latest in a
growing trend of land seizures by local people who claim they
were coerced into surrendering their property for unreasonably
small compensation, or with no compensation at all.

Observers say coercive tactics were commonplace during the
repressive Soeharto administration. The former president fell
from grace on May 21 and has since been haunted by allegations of
widespread corruption, collusion and nepotism.

The first such crime which received publicity was a case last
month in which a mob occupied land in West Jakarta which they
thought belonged to Soeharto. They claimed the land was acquired
without due compensation being paid.

The same thing is now happening to Soeharto's famous Tri-S
Tapos ranch, which would have been unthinkable during his time in
power. The occupation was started by farmers from Cibedug village
who claimed Soeharto plundered their ancestral land in the early
1970s to develop the 750-hectare cattle breeding ranch.

Fears abound that other properties belonging to Soeharto, his
relatives and cronies are in imminent danger of being plundered.

In Surabaya, people have dug up a golf course belonging to a
firm controlled by property tycoon Ciputra.

In all cases, security officers have proved impotent in the
face of the mob actions, although top government officials have
warned of stern action against looters.

Minister of Justice Muladi has urged stern but measured action
against looters because a proliferation of mob banditry would
earn Indonesia a reputation as an unsafe country.

However the Armed Forces, battling to restore its tarnished
reputation, has conspicuously avoided taking harsh measures to
stop the mobs.

Under mounting public pressure to take stern action, Police
Chief Lt. Gen. Roesmanhadi has issued a shoot-on-sight order, but
only for looters who "endanger officers' lives."

One observer believes that mob land seizures are a logical
consequence of the reforms which society is vigorously pursuing.
They are purging symbols of the authoritarian government under
which they suffered in silence for 32 years.

"Although nobody in their right mind would justify land
plundering, it is understandable why peasants have resorted to
it," said lawyer Luhut M.P. Pangaribuan, who handled major land
disputes while he worked for the Indonesian Legal Aid Institute.

"In land disputes, the court almost always decides in favor of
the government or business interests because the law has become a
tool of the bureaucracy."

Pangaribuan believed the problem could be overcome if the
speed of reform was accelerated and the nation lead by a
democratically elected government.

Satjipto Rahardjo, a professor of law at Diponegoro University
in Semarang, speculated that the rising incidence of looting and
mob land seizures was simply the oppressed expressing their
euphoria following the end of Soeharto's authoritarian rule.

"Now that people are enjoying unprecedented freedom of
expression, many think they can do anything without fear of
prosecution," he said as quoted by Antara.

People are still frustrated by the lack of social justice
during the Soeharto government and they are now seeking to
redress the balance.

Escalating lawlessness has damaged the nation's reputation of
being a religious and tolerant society and religious leaders fear
the crippling economic crisis is tempting people into violating
the basic tenets of their religions to survive.

"The crisis has weakened people's commitment to religion,"
said Hussein Umar, a Moslem preacher and legislator.

Wayan Suarjaya, a Hindu leader, said senior religious figures
and the security authorities should work hand in hand to prevent
the country from descending into anarchy.

"At a time like this, when the majority of people have been
deprived of their basic needs, it is not easy to persuade them to
spurn the temptation to get things for free by breaking the laws
of their religions and their state," he said.