Villagers demand seized land

JAKARTA: Locals from a remote village in Central Sulawesi have demanded the government give back their rights to a 245-hectare plot seized by a land broker, PT Sentral Raya Permai, in 1988.

In a statement released by the Indonesian Environmental Forum (Walhi) on Friday, the spokesman for the residents of Sisipan village in Batui regency, Central Sulawesi, Mustaridin Adjadar, also urged the State Land Agency (BPN) to take firm action against its provincial office for breaking the law and committing human rights violations during the seizure.

"The company and the administration, guarded by military personnel, destroyed our rice fields before offering us Rp 100 (US$0.01 cent) in compensation for each square meter of land," he said in the statement.

Those who refused were intimidated and interrogated, he added.

The land office in 1991 gave the title to a joint Indonesian- French shrimp pond management company, PT Banggai Sentral Shrimp (BSS), although the law stipulates only BPN has the authority to certify land use that is more than 100 hectares.--JP