Villagers demand assistance from PTPN VII
Villagers demand assistance from PTPN VII
Bahrul Ilmi Yakub, The Jakarta Post, Palembang
Thousands of villagers held a demonstration at the offices of the
state-owned sugar plantation company PTPN VII in Ogan Komering
Ilir, some 75 kilometers south of the provincial capital on
Wednesday, demanding that management carry out social development
programs in villages near the plantation.
The villagers thronged the offices but failed to meet with
management.
The demonstrators threatened to occupy the plantation should
the management ignore their demands, which they say they have
been making for many years.
Arhandi T.B., an activist who was involved in organizing the
demonstration, said the villagers were very disappointed with the
state-owned company, which they claim has discriminated against
both them and local businesspeople.
"The sugar plantation has been operating for more than ten
years but it has failed to carry out any social development
programs to help better the lot of the local people. All the
projects in the plantation has been given to businesspeople from
Palembang and Jakarta, while most of the people employed who come
from here are on very low pay. This policy is not in line with
regional autonomy," he said.
Before the demonstration, the villagers also staged a rally at
the Kayu Agung legislative council, which they considered as not
being proactive in fighting on behalf of the villagers.
According to Arhandi, the demonstrators, who mostly hailed
from ten villages located near the sugar plantation, have long
been demanding that PTPN VII establish social facilities such as
schools, mosques, public health centers and sports facilities,
but had received little in the way of a positive response from
management.
"This plantation has not made any contribution to the social
development program in the ten villages. The management has
recruited most of the employees from other regions," he said.
Meanwhile, Yahya Bahar, a member of PTPN VII's board of
commissioners, pledged to bring the villagers' demands up at the
next management meeting, adding that the villagers should avoid
violence in fighting for their demands.
"This state-owned plantation undertaking is protected by law
and the villagers have no right to occupy the plantation. Nothing
will be achieved if the villagers resort to violence in fighting
for their interests," he said.
He added that there was no compulsion on the part of
management to provide what the demonstrators were demanding.
Bahar regretted the demonstration, saying it had been
engineered by certain parties who were only out for their own
interests.
"We're going to submit an official complaint about the
demonstration to the local police and ask them to investigate
whether certain parties were exploiting the villagers so as to
hold the state-owned company to ransom," he said.
He added that the state-owned company contributed financial
assistance every year to the local administration to help finance
development programs in the regency.