Land Disputes in Indonesia: Some Current Perspectives Author(s): Anton Lucas Reviewed work(s): Source: Indonesia, No. 53 (Apr., 1992), pp. 79-92 Published by: Southeast Asia Program Publications at Cornell University Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3351117 . Accessed: 28/09/2012 02:49 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. Southeast Asia Program Publications at Cornell University is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Indonesia. http://www.jstor.org LAND DISPUTESIN INDONESIA: SOME CURRENTPERSPECTIVES Anton Lucas I see developedcountries giving economic aid. Andas a result manypeople from the third world arelosing their lands, so therich can play golf, orso a dam cangive electric power toindustries with foreign capital. Andthe unfortunate people, yes Lord, getcompensation forevery square meter of their land, withmoney that has the same value as a packetof American cigarettes. W. S. Rendra,For the People of Rangkas Bitung' The "Land forthe People" Calendar In March1991 a studentfrom a Yogyakartaactivist women's group visited the Inter UniversitiesCenter office, to ask fora donationfor her organization. Her groupwas one of ninesponsors of a calendarcalled "Land forthe People" (Tanahuntuk Rakyat). The calendar attractedconsiderable comment after she had left,as thosein theoffice at thetime crowded around,trying to guesswhich national political figures were being satirized there--not a difficulttask. About a weeklater, the government suddenly banned the calender for "jeopardizingnational security" and forinsulting the President and thegovernment of An earlierversion of this paper was presentedat a conferenceon "IndonesianCulture, Asking the Right Ques- tions,"at theFlinders University of South Australia in Adelaidein October1991. I wouldlike to expressmy thanksto Nasikun,director of the Social Studies division of the Inter University Center at GadjahMada University,and MochtarMas'oed, the deputy director, for their continuing support of this research. 1 PikiranRakyat, December 31, 1990, reprinted in Problema,no.1 (March 1991), p. 13,issued by the Yayasan Buruh Membangun. 80 AntonLucas Indonesia.The policeinterrogated thirteen students, university lecturers, journalists, and officials,mostly from Satya Wacana Christian University in Salatiga,and theartist who createdthe calendar went underground (and reportedlyleft the country). The ninenon- governmentalorganizations that had sponsoredthe calender publicly claimed collective responsibility,in an effortto countercriminal charges being brought against two student activistsfrom a non-governmentalorganization based in Salatiga(the Geni foundation), who werebacking farmers' requests for higher compensation in theregion to be floodedby theKedung Ombo dam.2 The Tanahuntuk Rakyat calendar visualizes in cartoonform what the sponsors (and manyothers) believe to be a majorsocial and politicalissue in Indonesiatoday--the ques- tionof land clearancesor penggusuran tanah. Various scenes in thecalendar illustrate charac- teristicsof many of these recent conflicts; the arbitrariness of official policy, the political and physicalintimidation of protesters, and theunsatisfactory methods and levelsof compensa- tionfor the farmers who have beendisplaced. It depictslocal government officials with wads ofmoney bulging out of every pocket of their safari jackets, people being evicted at thepoint of a gunby nasty looking soldiers, with their land being fenced off with barbed wire.A largefigure dressed in blue pourswater into an unfilledhole labeledKedung Ombo whileholding a bag ofmoney with "overseas debt" printed on it. Underneaththis collage of social commentary, the creators of the calendar summarize six recentclearance cases. Theseare at Mt Badega (southof Garut), Jatiwangi (near Maja- lengka),and Cimacan(in Cianjurkabupaten), all in theprovince of West Java; Belangguan (Situbondokabupaten) in EastJava; Kedung Ombo covering the kabupatens of Boyolali, Sragen,and Grobogan(Central Java); and Pulau Panggungsubdistrict in SouthLampung province.The factsabout each case as givenon thecalendar, together with data on the Cilacap petrochemicalfactory and theUrip Sumoharjo urban redevelopment project in Surabaya,are summarizedin Table 1 (p. 81). Beforeconsidering three of these cases in more detail,I would liketo lookbriefly at thehistorical background and thelegal position of clearancecases in thecontext of perceptions of land disputesin Indonesiatoday. Some HistoricalBackground The penggusuranissue is closelytied to rightsto landand land ownershipwhich have longbeen a complexsocial issue in Indonesia.In theHindu Javanese kingdom of Mataram beforethe coming of the Dutch, the ruler distributed land forthe people and theirdescend- antsto cultivate,or as appanagesto faithfulfollowers in returnfor their loyalty to theking. In colonialtimes, the VOC and thecolonial administration that succeeded it tried to make senseof the Javanese land-tenure system, for purposes of taxation and laterfor levying corvee.The eighteenth-centurydebates about rights to land inJava--regarding whether ownershipof the land residedwith the Sovereign (or theState), with proprietors who col- lectedrevenue and determinedland use, withvillages ( or hamlets),or withindividual peasantcultivators-usually reaffirmed the rights of the sovereign power.3 The Agrarian Law of 1870,making it illegal forforeigners to own land, declared thatall "unused" or unoccupiedland belongedto thestate, and could thereforebe leased to Europeanplanta- tions,while village land could be rentedfrom the village for up to threeyears. The 2 KedaulatanRakyat, March 19, 1991; Jawa Pos, March 19, 1991; "Kasus Kalender Aneh Bin Ajaib" a pamphletex- plainingthe backgrounds of the two students charged, and theactivities of the Yayasan Geni, as wellas providinga summaryof local press commentary. 3 RobertVan Niel,"Rights to land inJava," in DariBabad dan Hikayat sampai Sejarah Kritis: Kumpulan karangan dipersembahkankepada Prof Dr Sartono,ed. T. IbrahimAlfian et al. (Yogyakarta:UGM press,1987), pp. 122,135-48. Table 1. Major Land Clearancesin Indonesia1989-1992 No. offamilies/ No. ofhouses/ totalpopulation totalarea Compensation Statusof project/ Projectand Location involved expropriated offer(rupiah) totalinvestment Developer KedungOmbo dam 5390/30000 5968ha flooded Rp.300/m2, irrigationof 60000 ha. government+ World Bank (CentralJava) laterincreased 22.5MW ofelectricity $US76.5million UripSumoharjo 468/25000 2348/265ha. Rp 178-825,000/m2 offices,shopping center, government+ PT Karya urbanredevelopment hotels,recreation YudhaSakti (Sudwikatmono) (Surabaya) Petrochemicalfactory 1400/3035 200ha. variesaccording to petrochemicalfactory. Shell52%; Pertamina 15%; Cilacap(Central Java) classof land Totalinvestment Bimantara12%; C. Itoh9%; $US1.5billion Mitsubishi9%; International FinanceCorporation, Asian DevelopmentBank 3% Airforcebase 2198landholders 1021ha. N/A Disputed Jatiwangi(Majalengka) W. Java KotoPanjang dam (Riau) 4125/23000 12600ha. to be rp.30/m2 114MW ofelectricity Japan'sOverseas Economic flooded US$290million DevelopmentFund (OEDF) Golfcourse 287farmers 33.4ha. cultivated rp.30/m2 increased to golfcourse+ touristpark PT BandungAsri Mulya Cimacan(Cianjur) since1943 rp.210/m2. (BAM) Tea plantation 579/2500 498.6ha. cultivated "gift"of 0.12 ha. per tea plantation PT SuryaAndaka Mustika Badega(Garut) since1943 family W.Java 42 Marinesbase 200families 140ha. cultivated rp.200/m2 marinetraining PT Asia BudiDaya . Belangguan(Situbondo) since1923 E.Java PulauPanggung, South 2376families 476dwellings burnt noneoffered reforestation+ coffee localgovernment Lampung bylocal authorities plantations . o- 82 AntonLucas twentieth-centuryconcept of adat law,as applied to landclassified as villageor communally ownedland (tanahulayat or tanahjasan), gave theso-called "autonomous self-regulating villages"power to makelaws regardingland. Thus the 1870 Agrarian Law recognizeda dual systemof land laws: theWestern concept of private ownership (eigendom); and long- termlease (erfpacht)through which state and villagelands could be rentedout to Western plantations.Although farmers still had rightsto land,the power of the sugar interests in Java,for example, ensured that farmers were in effect"evicted" from their lands forthe lengthof the sugar mill lease (approximatelythree years). Several of the well-publicized disputesin Indonesiatoday regarding land claimshave occurred as a resultof farmers cultivatingland formerlyrented under long-term lease arrangementswhich began during thecolonial period. The disputesat Mt.Badega and Cimacan,for example, both concern land formerlyleased to Europeanplantations which was takenover during the Japanese occupationby local farmers. Althoughall butone ofthe cases describedin Table 1 relateto penggusuran of agricul- turalland fordevelopment projects, there are dozensof similar less-publicized cases which concerndisputed urban land clearance.4In Jakartaand Surabaya,the two main urban areas ofJava, penggusuran of kampung people began to increasein thefirst decades