Hundreds of villagers demand Arutmin pay land compensation

Hundreds of villagers of Sepapah, Kotabaru regency, South Kalimantan demanded on Saturday mining company PT Arutmin pay land compensation.

Local daily Banjarmasin Post reported that the villagers voiced the demand in a talk with Arutmin's officials at the Kotabaru police station.

The talk, which was moderated by Kotabaru police chief Superintendent Taufik Nurhidayat, lasted peacefully, the paper said.

The villagers claimed that the company had not yet paid compensation for 200 hectares of land belonging to them, stretching from the mouth to south of the upper end of Sepapah River.

Arutmin's official Masruddin Yahya said the company had paid the compensation to Dumuli, a community leader of the village.

One of the villagers, identified as Supiani, however said that Dumuli did not have land in the village and could not act as the representative of the villagers.

But, Masruddin showed a document to the villagers, which contains the results of the talk among the village's community leaders on July 13, 1999. According to the document, the community leaders agreed that Dumuli had the right to receive the land compensation.

Syamsul of Arutmin later said the company would pay compensation to the tune of Rp 100,000 (US$1= Rp 9,325) per hectare to the villagers who had not yet receive compensation.

But, the villagers turned down the offer, demanding Rp 50 million per hectare in compensation.

The villagers and the company promised to hold further talks to resolve the matter. (*)