Purwoto refutes statements on Kedung Ombo case

JAKARTA (JP): Former chief justice Purwoto Suhadi Gandasubrata says statements regarding the Kedung Ombo land dispute by several legal experts in the mass media recently are groundless.

"I am deeply concerned that most legal experts here are incorrectly criticizing the latest Supreme Court decision," Purwoto said at a transfer of post party for the Indonesian chief justice at the Horison Hotel in North Jakarta on Thursday night.

He told reporters that most of the statements were groundless because most of the legal experts did not base their opinions on the complete reasoning of the Supreme Court.

"They criticized us despite the fact they had not read our latest decision completely," Purwoto said.

He said the Supreme Court's reverse ruling was meant to set the most objective compensation for the 34 villagers whose land was cleared by the state to make way for the construction of a huge dam and reservoir in Kedung Ombo, Central Java.

Senior Judge Zainal Asikin Kusumah Atmadja, who presided over the Supreme Court of appeal, ruled earlier that the government must pay Rp 50,000 per square meter of land to the villagers, in contrast to Rp 4,000 offered by the government and Rp 10,000 sought by the villagers.

The Court also ordered the government to pay Rp 2 billion ($952,000) in "non-material" losses to the farmers.

"The Rp 50,000 compensation per square meter of land, decided in the first court's ruling, was not the local common value," Purwoto said.

He said in order to get the common value on the market, the Supreme Court then decided to cancel the first court's decision, which ordered the government to pay more than the villagers demanded.

He explained that the court would let the villagers re-file their lawsuit from the beginning again, based on Presidential Decree No. 55/1993.

Purwoto said the 34 villagers could still expect a fair decision from the Central Java governor regarding the amount of compensation, as ruled in the decree. They can also disagree with the governor's decision, he said.

Compensation

Under Presidential Decree No. 55/1993, the governor must report to the President if villagers refuse to accept his decisions, Purwoto said. The President will then revoke the ownership of the land, based on Act No. 20/1961, and determine the amount of compensation.

Purwoto said the villagers can go to the State Administrative Court and sue the governor if the governor does not report the dispute to the President.

"The villagers can finally appeal to the High Court as their last possible way if they do not agree with the amount of compensation set by the President," he added.

The Supreme Court's decision to reverse the ruling was announced to the press on Monday by outgoing chief justice Purwoto on the day he handed over the post to his successor R. Soerjono.

Earlier, Purwoto and the court were lauded by various political and legal circles on the first ruling, which ordered the government to pay compensation to the villagers.

Two lower courts had previously passed rulings in favor of the government.

The reversal of the nation's highest court's decision came after the government, in this case the Central Java provincial administration and the Ministry of Public Works, applied for a review of the case with the Supreme Court. (imn)