Rancamaya parties summoned by court

JAKARTA (JP): The Jakarta Administrative Court demanded the presence of parties during hearings over a land dispute, including the Chairman of the National Land Agency.

Lintong O. Siahaan, the chief judge at yesterday's hearing involving the Rancamaya elite housing estate in Bogor, West Java, said the Court has the authority to summon the parties if it sees it necessary.

The Antara news agency reported that Lintong requested the presence of the Chairman of the Central Office for the National Land Agency/Minister for Agrarian Affairs Soni Harsono, the official in charge of Bogor regency land affairs, and the real estate developer, PT Surya Dutamas Makmur.

The plaintiffs -- Indra Rukmana and Achmad Kowara of PT Teknik Umum -- must also be present at the next hearing, Lintong said.

"The arguments of both legal representatives have not been clear and have failed to convince the panel of judges," Lintong said.

The case was first tried when the owner of PT Teknik Umum, the late Eddi Kowara, sued the government offices for issuing a land certificate for a 214-hectare plot on behalf of PT Surya Dutamas Makmur.

The plaintiffs said PT Teknik Umum had already acquired ownership rights from the land's previous owners.

Lintong said the summons for the disputing parties is also aimed to coax them into an out-of-court settlement.

The disputed plot is a housing estate transformed from rubber estates in the villages of Rancamaya, Teluk Pinang and Cipaku.

In 1994, the developer settled an earlier dispute with more than 300 farmers who claimed to have been forced into giving up their land. The farmers were given a total of Rp 153 million in compensation. (anr)