Villagers end KPC road blockade

Tens of villagers living near the mining site of coal producer PT Kaltim Prima Coal (KPC) in Sangatta, East Kalimantan who blocked the main road leading to the company's coal mining location since Tuesday dispersed peacefully late Wednesday, a company official said.

?They dispersed peacefully. Production was not disturbed. KPC only experienced slight logistic supply problems during the blockade,? said KPC superintendent public affairs Rurie Wuryandari.

The villagers blocked the road with two large trucks to support one of the villagers demand to get a fair compensation payment for the 6 hectare land included by KPC into its mining area.

A villager Utuh Garau, who claimed the real owner of the land, demanded a fair compensation payment for its property from KPC. But the mining company refused to meet the demand because it said that it had paid the compensation to Udin, another villager who had been accused by the Utuh family with using false documents to get the compensation.(godang)