Social problems shadow Cepu block

Blontank Poer, The Jakarta Post, Bojonegoro

Sutarto, 54, is one of the thousands of residents in Ngasem district who will soon make a sudden windfall when his farm makes way for a runway. The noise of helicopters and planes will soon break the silence of the village. Aircraft that he has only ever known from his children's school textbooks or from TV, will soon turn into reality in the village.

The prospective oil exploration site is situated nearly 16 kilometers from the highway connecting Cepu in Central Java and Bojonegoro in East Java. The government and oil giant Exxon signed a deal on June 25 paving the way for exploration of oil in the area now known as the Cepu Block. Exploration is set to take place in the near future.

With the deal now signed, Sutarto and the tens of thousands of residents living in the six villages in Kalitidu and Ngasem districts, Bojonegoro regency, now look forward to an improvement in their living standards.

"I'll probably still be a farmer. However, as we're blessed with the oil drilling activity here, we hope local youth will be employed in the project," said Sutarto.

Unlike Sutarto, Fadil, 27, from Gayam village in Kalitidu district, expressed concern about the negative aspects the exploration project might bring. "Most of the residents here are poor and rely on agriculture for their livelihood. I'm afraid that they will be shocked after gaining such large sums of money from the sale of their land, which may lead them into a consumptive way of life," said Fadil on Friday.

Each family head will get at least Rp 20 million (US$2,050) from sale of land measuring from 2,000 square meters to tens of thousands of square meters. The price of land around the project ranges from Rp 10,000 to Rp 15,000 per square meter, depending on the distance to the drilling site.

Bojonegoro Regent Mochamad Santoso told The Jakarta Post that his office was planning to requisition between 750 ha to 800 ha for exploration and to build supporting facilities for the Cepu Block project. "Most of the land is owned by residents from the six villages and a small section by state forestry company PT Perhutani," said Santoso.

Joko Purwanto, executive director of the Bojonegoro Institute, a local non-governmental organization, has strongly criticized the project. The organization is wary of the huge socio-cultural impacts the project might create. The loss of agricultural land will prompt tension among the tens of thousands of lives around the project," said Joko.

Looming social impacts that might arise were acknowledged by Sarif Usman. According to the head of the development commission of the Bojonegoro legislature, his office has asked the regent to inform residents on the impacts of the project as early as possible.

"The presence of entertainment facilities will certainly influence the lifestyle of local people. Social guidance efforts should be initiated now," said Sarif.