Parung clash blamed on legal inconsistency
JAKARTA (JP): The clash between Cibentang residents and police officers over the installation of high-voltage electric cables resulted from legal inconsistencies, a lawyer says.
Senior lawyer Luhut M. Pangaribuan, director of the Legal Aid Institute, said Saturday he wondered why the Ministry of Mines and Energy had enacted Decree No: 15/1992, which excluded paying compensation for land and other properties passed by high-voltage electricity cables.
This decree says, people can live under the stretch of a high- voltage electric cable, while Luhut said; "Living under high- voltage electricity cables is very dangerous".
Luhut was discussing the dispute between the Cibentang villagers and the state-owned electricity company PT PLN, which is backed by military and police officers.
The dispute began after residents' demands for land compensation was refused by PLN. The authorities are of the opinion that the residents do not deserve land and building compensation because they did not need to sacrifice their land and houses to make way for the cable. PLN provided compensation only for the plants and trees cut down during the cable installation.
Cibentang village is located in the Parung district, Bogor, 60 km south of Jakarta.
The dispute reached its peak Thursday when, according to eye witnesses and residents, anti-riot policemen beat the protesting residents.
Many residents were injured.
Police have denied the beating, alleging the defunct Indonesian Communist Party was behind the residents' protest.
Luhut said he believed nobody would be held responsible if an accident befell those living under the 500-Kilo-Volt cable. "It is possible the cable could fall and hit the houses," he said.
Radiation
He said there had been reports that high-voltage electric radiation caused health problems.
Luhut said the Ministerial Decree No: 15/1992 should have followed the higher-level regulation. "The decree is not in accordance with Law No.15/1985 on energy plants. This law guarantees compensation for land and houses which are passed by electricity cables," he said.
He said the Cibentang residents could file a lawsuit against the ministry for violating the law.
Luhut said the Cibentang clash reflected a kind of business collusion between the government officials and military and police officers.
The security officers not only guarded the technicians, but they were involved in the installation, he said.
He said government officials should behave properly to the public.
"I don't think the police officers understand how to properly use their authority," he said.
He cited former justice Bustanul Arifin's recent comment that law enforcement had been much weakened due to rampant, overt corruption.
"The bureaucracy is now offering services for money," Luhut said quoting the Justice. (07)