Chaidir Anwar Tanjung/ RHP & LM, Pekanbaru – In Lagoi, North Bintan, Kepri regency, on the island of Riau which is pushing for extensive autonomy from Indonesia, hundreds of local people have staged protests demanding proper compensation for their land taken during the New Order era of President Suharto. The local government claims that the actions have begun to threaten development projects.
For the last three days, local people have continuously held protests in front of the office of the head of regency, Abdul Manan, demanding fair compensation for their land which has been turned into a tourist resort. Unfortunately, the regent, Abdul Manan has rejected the people's demands and his arrogant behaviour has only made the situation worse.
"The head of the regency supposedly acts wisely in dealing with cases. But it is natural that the people are currently demanding better compensation [for their land which was pruchased] in the old days because their lands were taken forcefully and they were paid a very low price [at the time]," said Fachruddin S, a protester, to Detik Saturday.
"I still remember that the land price in that area was only set at Rp 500 per square meter. This was clearly unfair considering that the land was used for the development of an International resort," he added.
The Regional House of Representatives in Riau have asked Saleh Djasid, the Governor of Riau Province, to immediately resolve the dispute and the House has admitted that the compensation paid for the land had not been fair.
The local parliament is concerned about the flow of foreign investments flocking into the area and that the province will get a bad reputation as a difficult place to do business. The dispute over the land is already having an impact on foreign investment. A Singaporean investor is reconsidering it's investment in a water project in Riau.
According to Akman Ade Poetra, former deputy chairman of the Regional Investment Board, the Singaporean investor is considering cancelling the investment project in that area. "The realization of the project to develop water supply facilities in an area covering some 37,000 hectares is being postponed because the land is under dispute. It is likely that the project will be completely cancelled," said Akman to Detik.
According to documents signed by the Indonesian government and the Singaporean investors on 28 August 1990, some 64,000 hectares in the Lagoi area has been zoned as for joint economic cooperation. 23,000 hectares were allocated for tourism, 4,000 hectares for an industrial park and 37,000 hectares for the water supply project.
Currently, there are 14 electronics manufacturing factories and 13 garment factories with a total investment of S$1.05 billion already operating. "From these two industries alone, 6,000 workers have ben employed," said Akman. He elaborated that a total of around 3% of the land is in dispute.
Akman hoped that both the Riau regional government and the Kepri regency could resolve the land dispute. "If the protests over land compensation continue and eventually leads to anarchy, do not expect that much of the confidence of foreign investors would ever return," said Akman.