Oyos Saroso H.N., Bandarlampung – More than 150 villagers in Tulangbawang regency, Lampung, have sought protection from provincial authorities due to alleged intimidation from a private company.
Aside from being intimidated by thugs and police personnel, some 60 families in Kerawang village faced increased threats when the company dug a large canal around their village to isolate them.
Villagers met the Lampung governor and provincial legislature last week, saying they had frequently been approached by thugs and armed security from the local Brimob unit, asking them to sell their land to the company and leave the village.
"After the prolonged intimidation only around 150 villagers remain there, while more than 450 others have sold their land and moved to other villages," a spokesman for the villagers, Makruf, said.
He added that some 3,800 villagers in the subdistrict have faced similar threats when they refused to sell their land to PT Central Pertiwi Bahari (CPB), owner of a shrimp pond estate.
School children have had classes in a hut in the village since the mosque and an elementary school were torn down, Makruf said. Residents had to walk seven kilometers toward the shrimp pond estate if they wanted to leave the village, he added.
Residents said the intimidation has become more intense in recent months after 21,000 residents of Kuala Teladas and Gedongmeneng had received compensation from the company last year.
CPB's Taufik Slamet denied that his company had recruited thugs or security personnel to intimidate villagers, but said part of the land occupied by the village, belonged to his company.
He said his company had asked the residents to vacate the land because they were infringing on the shrimp pond estate. "We have never intimidated farmers. Things are not like they used to be, when you could get away with intimidation," he said.
Taufik said CPB would pay out up to Rp 4 million per hectare in compensation for the occupied land, as it had done with many other villagers who accepted the offer.
The company aims to retrieve some 16,200 hectares of land, including 600 hectares occupied by the village. The land bought from PT Dipasena Citra Darmaja following the 1997 economic crisis, was originally protected forest.
Provincial forestry office chief Arinal Junaidi said the 600-hectare Kerawang village was not included in the CPB land title issued in May, 2007.
"The land title was issued after the company and land authorities determined borders between the shrimp pond estate and villages. The digging of the canal was unjustified and we must ask the company to refill it," he said.
The provincial legislative council say they would form a joint working committee to provide advocacy for the villagers and settle the case fairly.