Oyos Saroso H.N., Kalianda, South Lampung – Lampung farmers have demanded the court take a decision on the ownership of local communal land, which they say has been illegally taken over from them by private and state-run estate companies that have not provided them with adequate compensation.
They said they would continue their strikes until the estate companies and the local administration met their demands.
"The farmers have the right to control all the communal land currently occupied by the estate companies," said Komarhaen Agus Revolusi, coordinator of the Lampung Farmers' Council (DRL), after demonstrating at Kalianda District Court in South Lampung on Tuesday.
Some 600 villagers from Sidodadiasri, Jatiagung district, South Lampung, and other DRL branches in Lampung flocked to the district court to protest the seizure of their land by state-owned oil palm plantation company (PTPN VII).
In March 2000, Sidodadiasri villagers started reclaiming 435 hectares of disputed land by dividing it into plots, felling oil palms and seizing 29 houses built by PTPN VII, after the company failed to respond to their ultimatum for an agreed-upon solution by March 3, 2000.
DRL Secretary-General Komarhaen Agus Revolusi said the protesters only wanted to defend the rights of local people, instead of influencing the court. "We don't care about what the court will decide, because we have frequently been double-crossed," he added.
According to Sumarno, chairman of DRL's Sidodadiasri branch, the land had been distributed to 607 families and 96 others were on the waiting list, with adequate space being laid out for public facilities.
He said the story began in 1976, when PTPN VII claimed the 435-hectare plot of land in the village, redrew its limits in 1978 and evicted local dwellers the following year.
In 1980, PTPN VII paid Rp 1 million per hectare in compensation without taking into account the value of the crops. The amount paid, however, was not as promised and some documents were allegedly forged.
In an attempt to solve the dispute, the regional administration of Lampung formed a group called the Team of 13, but locals described this team as siding with the state-owned company and requested the provincial governor intervene.
Sidodadiasri village chief Suratmin said the Lampung legislature and the team had demanded villagers show their certificates of ownership. "It's difficult to fulfill this request owing to the village's chaotic administration. But we have former South Lampung regent Djagar Amid and former provincial land affairs agency official Tarmizi as witnesses," he asserted.
PTPN VII/Bergen Unit's administration chief, Subakir A.L., said the company did not have the authority to settle the land issue. "PTPN VII is a state company so the land belongs to the government. Therefore, the government has the power to resolve the problem," he claimed.
Anung, presiding judge at Kalianda public court, turned down PTPN VII's claim on the land now occupied by Sidodadiasri villagers, but he also ordered the villagers to vacate the land currently under their control.
The land owners' attorney from the legal aid institute of Bandar Lampung, Watoni Nurdin, pointed out the Kalianda court should have determined the status of the land claimed by PTPN VII as the property of local people.
"Between 1979 and 1981, the villagers were forced to sign statements that they cultivated crops on private land and were given Rp 20,000 per hectare in compensation. The court was also assisted by the military in Lampung to intimidate them, with 12 people held for three months," Nurdin added.