Tens of Dayaks blockade Arutmin's coal mine
Saturday, March 10 2001 - 04:00 AM WIB
Tens of indigenous Dayak people had been blockading the coal mine owned by PT Arutmin Indonesia in Sepapah, Kotabaru regency, South Kalimantan since Wednesday, demanding the company to pay compensation for their land, according to a report.
The action forced the company to stop production and withdraw all their equipments from the mining site, South Kalimantan-based daily Banjarmasin Post daily reported on Saturday.
The Kotabaru police had fielded Fifty officers to guard the coal mine, the paper said.
One of the villagers identified as Sukar said they took the action to pressure the company to pay compensation for their land.
According to the paper, it is the fourth blockading action taken by the villagers, who claimed that Arutmin had acquired land belonging to their ancestor named Lu'uh.
The villagers had blockaded Arutmin's mine three times last year, the paper said.
During previous blockages, the villagers demanded the firm to pay them Rp 50 million (US$1=Rp10,000) per hectare in compensation for their 131 hectares of land.
The villagers however could not prove that the land belonged to Lu'uh, which led to Arutmin filing a lawsuit against them at the local court.
The local court was scheduled to make a final decision on the matter on March 8 but the session was delayed due to the absence of the lawyer representing the villagers. The lawyer, named Pardiman, could not attend the session because he had to take care of family affairs on the day.
The paper said Pardiman failed to notify the villagers on the reason behind the final court session's delay, causing a misunderstanding on the part of the villagers that the delay was because of Arutmin
The villagers insisted that they would end the blockage until their lawyer asked them to do so.
Arutmin community superintendent Syamsul Alam said the production break caused by the blockage had caused the company to suffer billons of rupiah. (*)