PT Pelindo will go no higher
JP/3/Koja/lead 10 pts, 3 cols
PT Pelindo will go no higher
JAKARTA (JP): The management of the state-owned PT Pelindo seaport company stated Thursday it could not afford higher compensation for the Koja residents who have to move out to pave way for expansion of the seaport.
"The level of compensation decreed by the mayor (Suprawito) is the maximum we can afford," A. Harbani, president of the company, was quoted as saying by Sutarno, chairman of the City Council's commission A for agrarian affairs.
The commission held a closed-door hearing with the company on Thursday, following the visit of Koja residents on the ongoing land acquisition to the council on March 21.
With the decision, the squabble between PT Pelindo and the residents of Koja district, which has lasted since late last year, is likely to find no end in the predictable future.
The dispute started after PT Pelindo announced last year that it intended to appropriate 90 hectares of land inhabited by around 9,037 families totaling almost 40,000 400 people, where the company plans to build a new container harbor in a joint- venture with PT Humpuss, the diversified business group owned by the President's youngest son, Hutomo Mandala Putra.
PT Pelindo claims to own the land since the Dutch-Indies era, categorizing the inhabitants as tenants. But, the residents said they leased the land from the Dutch and have lived there since the inception of the republic.
After no agreement on the level of compensation was reached, Mayor Suprawito tried to break the deadlock by raising it to between Rp 100,000 (US$46.8) and Rp 160,000 ($75) per square meter.
The level is higher by Rp 10,000 ($4.6) than the rate set by PT Pelindo.
The Koja residents, however, insisted on Rp 2,275,000 ($1,066), a level which is even higher than the compensation offered by private developers to residents living in the most expensive business districts in the city.
Sutarno said after the Thursday hearing, the commission would hold inspection an tour of Koja on Wednesday.
The tour will be followed by another hearing with the Koja residents, where Sutarno said the commission will debrief them on the results of Thursday's hearing.
Some Koja residents, led Yoyo Sukarya, claiming to be a lawful representative of the residents, visited the City Council during the hearing between the commission and PT Pelindo Thursday with the intention of being immediately debriefed on its results.
However, they left without satisfaction.
Sutarno also said a total of 166 Koja residents had accepted the compensation at the district chief's office so far.
The compensations paid to them, he said, totaled Rp 6.7 billion, which PT Pelindo channeled through state-owned Bank Bumi Daya and Bank Negara Indonesia 1946.
Governor Surjadi fully backed mayor Suprawito on the Koja land clearance.
"The Koja residents had themselves made a written agreement with PT Pelindo that they would move away if the company needed the land. But now they broke their promise," the governor said recently. (jsk)