Blontank Poer, Semarang – Calls for compensation are being voiced, nearly two decades after the construction project of a reservoir in the Central Java district of Kedungombo.
In the latest rally, 250 people paid a visit to the provincial legislative council on Thursday to demand reasonable compensation for land and houses cleared for the project.
Residents of Kedungombo urged the legislature to set up a special committee to resolve the various problems related to their forced eviction.
Secretary-general of the Association of Kedungombo Victims (SWKKO) and coordinator of the rally Muntono, said they demanded that Governor of Central Java Mardiyanto issue a decree stating that problems related to the construction of the reservoir had yet to be justly and lawfully addressed.
"A previous settlement scheme was deemed unlawful as the then government resorted to intimidation and violence to forcibly evict the people living around the dam." Muntono said.
The association's chairman, Parjan AR, said SWKKO was determined to fight for proper compensation.
"Some residents did receive compensation, they had no other choice but to accept the money as they were threatened. Many of them were labeled communists or had their ID cards stamped as members of an outlawed party, just because they refused to receive the compensation offered." Parjan explained.
The organization groups 842 families from 29 villages in the districts of Andong, Kemusu, Klego and Juwangi in Boyolali regency, Miri and Sumber Lawang districts in Sragen regency and Geyer district in Grobogan, The reservoir was built in 1984 to develop areas around Jragung, Tunang, Serayu, Lusi and Juwana rivers. The US$181,2 million project, which swamps an area of 6,514 hectares, was jointly funded by the World Bank and The Exim Bank of Japan. It is capable of storing 700 million cubic meters of water and irrigating 60 hectares of paddy fields in surrounding regencies.
Chairman of the National Awakening Party faction Abdul Kadir Karding, the only councillor who turned up for the meeting with representatives of the protesters, said his faction would proceed with the demand for the setting up of a special administrative team.
The team is expected to handle all remaining problems and to conduct an investigation to match data collected in the field with the provincial administration, Kadir said.
He added the provincial government had no difficulty in solving the land compensation for Sragen, Grobogan and Boyolali districts.
Some people in Srimulyo village, Kemusu district in Boyolali revealed they were not demanding an excessive price for their land cleared for the construction project.
"We have only been asking for Rp 3,000 per square meter as suggested by the late former minister of home affairs, Soeparjo Rustam, during a meeting with the House of Representatives Commission II on November 16, 1987. We had previously demanded Rp 15,000." said Ngatno, a resident of Mlangi village in Kemusu.
He added: "We are willing to bury the hatchet and settle the problem amicably if the government is willing to pay us a reasonable price. We could by 10 kilograms of rice for Rp 3,000 that time, but now the amount is too small."
Spokesman for the provincial administration, Anwar Cholil, said the local government would prioritize people living around the dam and they had devised a new settlement formula by giving each family compensation in accordance with the original size of their land and another Rp 25 million to build a new house.
Anwar explained the provincial administration had repeatedly invited residents and local non-governmental organizations, as well as Gadjah Mada-based sociologist J. Nasikun to discuss ways to solve unfinished issues in Kedungombo in the Committee for the Empowerment of Kedungombo (KOMPAK).
SWKKO broke away from KOMPAK on May 13, 2002 due to differences of opinion. Parjan said KOMPAK was only interested in the empowerment of the residents, not issues related to the compensation settlement.