Villagers protest at electricity office

JAKARTA (JP): More than 150 people demonstrated outside an office of state-owned electricity company PT PLN in South Jakarta yesterday against a high-voltage cable installed over their land near Bogor.

The protesters, from Ciseeng and Ciheuk villages, arrived at the office on Jl. Trunojoyo in two buses.

They carried banners and read poems condemning the installation and the fact that their land had not been appropriated. Some carried a mock coffin.

A spokesman for the villagers, Saali, said at least 500 villagers from the area had become ill with bad headaches and other sicknesses after the high-voltage cable was installed.

"We bring our wives and children here because we can't stand living under the cable any longer," he said. "It affects our lives and health."

Saali said the villages wanted their land to be appropriated so that they could receive compensation and move from the land.

A lawyer for the villagers, Adian, said PLN should pay compensation based on the tax value of the property, which was Rp 40,000 (US$16.60) per square meter.

He said PLN had indicated that it would not appropriate the land because the Ministry of Mines and Energy had decided that the cable was not a danger.

But Adian said that according to Law No. 15/1985, PLN is required to appropriate land under high-voltage cables.

"So which has more authority, a ministerial decision or the law," he said.

PLN spokesman Abbas Thaha met 10 villagers and told them that PLN always accepted demands according to the law.

He said the company would deploy experts to make a study on the high-voltage cable.

"But PLN directors will need to discuss the matter first before our people visit the location," he said. "We can't decide that now." (jun)