Villagers' 20-year wait for fair compensation goes on

Villagers' 20-year wait for fair compensation goes on

Blontank Poer, The Jakarta Post, Semarang

Calls for compensation are being voiced, nearly two decades
after the construction project of a reservoir in the Central Java
district of Kedungombo.

In the latest rally, 250 people paid a visit to the provincial
legislative council on Thursday to demand reasonable compensation
for land and houses cleared for the project.

Residents of Kedungombo urged the legislature to set up a
special committee to resolve the various problems related to
their forced eviction.

Secretary-general of the Association of Kedungombo Victims
(SWKKO) and coordinator of the rally Muntono, said they demanded
that Governor of Central Java Mardiyanto issue a decree stating
that problems related to the construction of the reservoir had
yet to be justly and lawfully addressed.

"A previous settlement scheme was deemed unlawful as the then
government resorted to intimidation and violence to forcibly
evict the people living around the dam." Muntono said.

The association's chairman, Parjan AR, said SWKKO was
determined to fight for proper compensation.

"Some residents did receive compensation, they had no other
choice but to accept the money as they were threatened. Many of
them were labeled communists or had their ID cards stamped as
members of an outlawed party, just because they refused to
receive the compensation offered." Parjan explained.

The organization groups 842 families from 29 villages in the
districts of Andong, Kemusu, Klego and Juwangi in Boyolali
regency, Miri and Sumber Lawang districts in Sragen regency and
Geyer district in Grobogan,

The reservoir was built in 1984 to develop areas around
Jragung, Tunang, Serayu, Lusi and Juwana rivers. The US$181,2
million project, which swamps an area of 6,514 hectares, was
jointly funded by the World Bank and The Exim Bank of Japan. It
is capable of storing 700 million cubic meters of water and
irrigating 60 hectares of paddy fields in surrounding regencies.

Chairman of the National Awakening Party faction Abdul Kadir
Karding, the only councillor who turned up for the meeting with
representatives of the protesters, said his faction would proceed
with the demand for the setting up of a special administrative
team.

The team is expected to handle all remaining problems and to
conduct an investigation to match data collected in the field
with the provincial administration, Kadir said.

He added the provincial government had no difficulty in
solving the land compensation for Sragen, Grobogan and Boyolali
districts.

Some people in Srimulyo village, Kemusu district in Boyolali
revealed they were not demanding an excessive price for their
land cleared for the construction project.

"We have only been asking for Rp 3,000 per square meter as
suggested by the late former minister of home affairs, Soeparjo
Rustam, during a meeting with the House of Representatives
Commission II on Nov. 16, 1987. We had previously demanded Rp
15,000." said Ngatno, a resident of Mlangi village in Kemusu.

He added: "We are willing to bury the hatchet and settle the
problem amicably if the government is willing to pay us a
reasonable price. We could by 10 kilograms of rice for Rp 3,000
that time, but now the amount is too small."

Spokesman for the provincial administration, Anwar Cholil,
said the local government would prioritize people living around
the dam and they had devised a new settlement formula by giving
each family compensation in accordance with the original size of
their land and another Rp 25 million to build a new house.

Anwar explained the provincial administration had repeatedly
invited residents and local non-governmental organizations, as
well as Gadjah Mada-based sociologist J. Nasikun to discuss ways
to solve unfinished issues in Kedungombo in the Committee for the
Empowerment of Kedungombo (KOMPAK).

SWKKO broke away from KOMPAK on May 13, 2002 due to
differences of opinion.

Parjan said KOMPAK was only interested in the empowerment of
the residents, not issues related to the compensation settlement.