Sidoarjo Prosecutors Probe Village Land Scandal Over Elite Boarding Houses

The Sidoarjo District Attorney’s Office in East Java is investigating the alleged scandal surrounding the conversion of Damarsi Village Treasury Land in Buduran District, which has now been transformed into a row of elite boarding houses. The case emerged after the 3,500-square-metre plot of land, which should have been a village asset, was reportedly controlled by a private party without proper legal procedure. The Special Crimes Investigation Team from the Sidoarjo Prosecutor’s Office conducted intensive questioning of two key figures from Damarsi Village on Wednesday (5/6/2026). They are Musholin, the Village Head of Damarsi for the 2011–2017 period, and Farid Efendi, the former Chairman of the Village Community Empowerment Institution for the 2018–2023 period. The Head of the Special Crimes Section at the Sidoarjo Prosecutor’s Office, Sigit Sambodo, confirmed that the summons aimed to clarify the legal construction and cross-check field data with witness testimonies. ‘We are continuing to deepen the investigation material, collecting documents, and matching the statements from the reporting witnesses and the reported parties,’ Sigit emphasised. The land, covering approximately 3,500 square metres in Lokoma Block, was originally agricultural land or rice fields owned by the village. It is currently the site of 17 elite boarding house units, each worth hundreds of millions of rupiah. The alleged violation involves the conversion of land without the permits of the regent and governor, as well as an incomplete land swap process. According to Musholin’s account, the land was the result of a land swap in 2002 with PT Graha Agung Kencana. However, until his term of office ended in 2018, the land’s status remained purely as rice fields because the developer had not completed the official permits from the regional or provincial governments. The issue escalated after 2018. Farid Efendi revealed that in November 2018, there was an agreement between the village and a new developer, PT Jaya Tera. The agreement was to provide replacement land of the same size plus compensation money amounting to Rp500 million. However, the promise was never fully realised. ‘Even though the land swap process was not yet complete, at the end of 2023 residents found that buildings had been massively erected. Now it has reached 17 boarding house units,’ Farid stated. Residents of Damarsi Village detected irregularities and suspect a high-level conspiracy facilitated the construction on the state asset. Although the Village Consultative Body issued the results of a Village Deliberation to halt construction activities in November 2023, the execution on the ground was deemed very slow. Residents are now hoping the Sidoarjo Prosecutor’s Office can thoroughly investigate and identify all parties responsible for the loss of the village asset. The investigation is ongoing, with plans to summon active village officials and relevant agencies to resolve this case of state asset misuse.