Farmers block access road to KPC's mining area
Friday, January 20 2006 - 02:22 AM WIB
Dozens of farmers from Sanggata in East Kalimantan blocked the access road to PT Kaltim Prima Coal's Pit J mining site on Thursday as a protest to the refusal of the company to pay compensation for their land allegedly used by the company, Kaltim Post reported Friday.
The farmers' protest, however, did not affect the routine activities of the coal mining company which operated normally despite the blockade. The farmers grouped in the KTB farmers' association claimed that they had no choice but to take a street action because the company continued to refuse to pay the compensation although the local court had ordered it to meet their compensation demand.
According to the court's ruling issued in July, 2005, KPC must pay compensation for about 300 hectares of the farmers' land used by the company. The compensation, according to farmers, reaches about Rp 2.1 billion.
However, there were no immediate comments from KPC's management. (*)