Nipah dam project continues amid protest

SURABAYA (JP): The local administration plans to resume the controversial dam project in Nipah, Madura, off eastern Java, after it was halted for six years following a fatal 1993 incident.

The Sampang regency's decision to continue the land acquisition process for the dam project has drawn strong protest from the Surabaya branch of Legal Aid Foundation (LBH) and the relatives of the victims, an official at the regency confirmed on Tuesday.

Husein, head of the regency's information office said the first phase of the project would be to acquire 27 hectares of the total 120 hectares of land needed for the dam project. So far 22 hectares have been acquired.

"The price of land before the 1993 shootings was between Rp 400 to Rp 500 per square meter. Now we are paying between Rp 2,000 to Rp 2,500 per square meter. We have spent a total of Rp 1.2 billion on the first phase of land acquisition," Husein said of the project which quietly recommenced in the past few months.

"We took the pictures of the payment process just for defense in case of people's protest."

Hundred of villagers staged a demonstration against the dam project on Sept. 25, 1993. The demonstration triggered a fierce clash between security forces and protesters. Three protesters were shot dead in the skirmish.

Four local military and police chiefs were removed a month after the incident.

The Surabaya Legal Aid Foundation protested the administration's policy of continuing the project. Anshori, a member of the foundation, said he was worried it could provoke tension between villagers and the administration.

He said local residents did not want the project to go ahead while legal proceedings of the fatal shootings remained unresolved.

"The men behind the incident, Lt. Col. Bagus Hinayana the then regent and Lt. Col. Sugeng Wiyono then chief of the military district command, remain free," Anshori said, adding that the land acquisition process had been carried out in an unfair manner.

The regency's spokesman, Husein, denied Anshori's statement, saying that villagers were happy when receiving compensation money. (nur/sur)