Bagus Kurniawan/BI & LM, Yogyakarta – A spokesman for PT Pagilaran, embroiled in a land dispute with the University of Gadjah Mada and local peasants, has denied illegally seizing the peasant's land, stating that the peasants have illegally occupied the company's land and damaged crops.
Ir. Hari Saksono, Director of the company, met with Detik at his office in Yogyakarta today. According to Hari, the disputed land in Batang, Central Java, is part of 1,131 hectares given to Gajah Mada University by the Indonesian government.
He said the company accepted the land from the government in 1957 and that it was not, as the peasants have claimed, taken illegally by PT Pagilaran after the 30 September 1965 coup. He added that the land itself was owned by a Dutch company, P & T Lands (NV Maatschappij ter Exploitie der Pamanoekan en Tjiasem Landen), which was later nationalized by the newly born Republic.
Hari continued to explain that PT Pagilaran had received the permit to run a tea plantation from the Ministry of Agriculture on 8 February 1964. The permit was then renewed by the Ministry of Internal Affairs on 28 June 1983 and allowed PT Pagilaran to fully manage and control the 1,131 hectares of land until 31 December 2008. Since the size of the land has not changed since 1964, Hari believed the company has done nothing wrong. The size of the venture means that it has come into contact with several villages, including Keteleng/Pagilaran, Bismo, Kalisari, Bawang and Godang Batang.
Hari explained that, so far, only 700 hectares of the land has been used in the plantation project while the remainder has yet to be cultivated. He said the uncultivated land was occupied by the peasants who regarded it as their own. "So it is false to accuse us of snatching their land, because they haven't got any substantial evidence," he added.
Hari continued to defend his company saying that they never ordered the Police to arrest the 19 peasants currently detained in Batang. He said the company has never reverted to violence in the dispute." It was the peasants who were damaging the land, they have been claiming land and planting different crops in between the tea and coffee plantations," he stated.
A meeting between Sinarhadi, Field Manager of PT Pagilaran, representatives of the five villages and the Chief of Police from the Batang township was not successful. Representatives of the villages are insisting the disputed land is theirs and that PT Pagilaran only has the right to control the 700 hectares currently in use.
"We have suffered a great deal due to this land dispute. The looting of tea leaves from the plantations has cost a lot and the peasants have damaged the land. They are also destroying 85% of our polyclone plants which are important to our research and it requires 4-5 years for the plants to recover," said Hari.
As reported earlier by Detik, the issue has been taken up by students of the University of Gadjah Mada who formed the Student's Solidarity for Pagilaran Peasants (SMUPP) and staged a longmarch today demanding the university resolve the case and put an end to the intimidation of peasants and deal with human rights abuses.