Jakarta – Members and supporters of a family blocked on Friday a section of the BSD turnpike linking Bintaro, South Jakarta, and the Bumi Serpong Damai satellite city (BSD), demanding payment for land acquired for the road's construction.

Traffic ground to a halt when Natigor Pandjaitan blocked access at 8 a.m. to a 1,000 square meter section of Pondok Ranji-Serpong turnpike, not far from Pondok Ranji tollgate in Ciputat, Tangerang.

"We demand our rights... We are not the play things of the authorities, who have ignored the prevailing laws," Natigor said.

In their legal battle for a Rp 2.9 billion (US$3.1 million) land payment, which began in 2002, the Pandjaitan family has often placed barricades around the section of the road they claim is theirs.

The Supreme Court awarded them the Rp 2.9 billion on March 25, 2004, while Public Works Minister Djoko Kirmanto ordered on Dec. 21, 2005, turnpike operator PT Jasa Marga to pay the family. "But, until today, we have received not a cent from the company," said the family's spokesman, Rony Pandjaitan.

Jasa Marga acquired the plot of land in 1997 to construct the turnpike without paying any compensation. In 2002, the Tangerang District Court ruled in favor of Natigor, ordering the government and the company to pay Rp 1.5 million per sq m of land, totaling Rp 2.9 billion.

The company has asked the Supreme Court to review the decision based on new evidence.