Villagers in way of airport expansion
The Jakarta Post, Tangerang
Residents of Rawa Renged village, Teluk Naga district, and Rawa Burung village, Kosambi district, face eviction as their land will be included in plans to extend Soekarno-Hatta International Airport later this year.
"Neither the Tangerang regency administration nor airport operator PT Angkasa Pura II have given us information on when we have to vacate our ancestral land," Ante, head of community unit (RW) 2 in Rawa Burung told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.
He added that villagers needed time to relocate places of worship, schools and cemeteries.
A resident of Rawa Renged, Sari, 43, who has never moved from the area since she was born, said that she would move only if others did.
"It depends on the agreement of 80 families living in two neighborhood units of this village. If they are willing to move, I will follow suit and will not reject the compensation offered," she told the Post.
Head of Tangerang Land Agency Kusman Martadisastra said that acquisition of the 1,000-hectare site would take place soon, but did not elaborate.
"Executives of the airport operator, who are implementing the plan, have yet to involve us officially, although they recently met with Regent Ismet Iskandar and talked about the plan," he remarked.
A spokesman of PT Angkasa Pura II, Yudi, declined to comment.
The airport was located on a 1,800-hectare site in Cengkareng, about 20 kilometers west of Jakarta, when it started operating in 1985.
In 2002, the airport could accommodate at least 12 million passengers per year; however, that capacity is less than that of Changi Airport, Singapore, and Dong Muang Airport, Bangkok, each of which can accommodate more than 30 million people.
Last year, airport extension caused the evacuation of two villages in Selapajang, Benda district, Tangerang municipality.
Strangely enough, the Post observed on Tuesday brand new, vacant houses along the Rawa Renged road.
"People here call them ghost houses ... they were built by wealthy people from Selapajang who hoped to receive a large amount in compensation from PT Angkasa Pura prior to the eviction," said a Rawa Renged resident, Asip.
Tonny Wismantoro, director of Tangerang Government Watch (TGW), said that building new dwellings, whether semi-permanent or permanent, was an old trick. For example, he said, the owner of a small hut which could be built for Rp 100,000 (US$10.75) could receive compensation of Rp 350,000 from PT Angkasa Pura.
He added that a number of Selapajang evictees had yet to receive any compensation.
"The compensation money was stolen by land scalpers, who turned up every time an eviction occurred near the airport," he said.