Social problems shadow Cepu block

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.