A resident of Sembulang district on Rempang island in Riau Island shows a form and terms for relocation in this photo taken on Sept 17, 2023. - Antara
JAKARTA (The Jakarta Post/Asia News Network): Authorities are urging residents on Rempang in Riau Islands to immediately relocate to make way for the eco-city project on the island, amid opposition from locals over insufficient compensation for the affected people.
On Tuesday, Batam mayor and Batam Development Authority (BP Batam) head Muhammad Rudi met with several residents in Sembulang subdistrict on Rempang to hold a dialogue regarding their relocation.
The government is planning to build an eco-city project on Rempang, which will house manufacturing plants for glass and solar panels.
To make way for the 2,300-hectare industrial area, which is the first phase of the whole project, authorities would need to relocate around 700 households from Sembulang.
The initial plan was to move the locals to neighbouring Galang island, but this was met with resistance. Authorities then altered the plan to have them move to a different part of the island following demands from the residents.
During Tuesday’s (Oct 3) meeting, Rudi urged residents to sign a consent letter for the relocation as soon as possible and choose where they want to be relocated.
“The current choices are either moving to Tanjung Banon or Galang island. That’s my offer,” Rudi told residents in the meeting.
Tanjung Banon is located 12km southward, or around a 20-minute drive from Sembalung.
Several residents still deem the compensation offered by the authorities insufficient, given the increase in house prices over the years.
“I spent Rp150 million [US$9,612] to build my house 20 years ago,” said Syamsudin, one of the local community figures, during Tuesday’s meeting.
“It won’t be fair if we have to give up our old house to be exchanged with a Rp 120 million-worth house.”
Syamsudin referred to the houses being built by the government for the relocated residents on Rempang, each of which is valued at around Rp120 million.
Rudi responded by saying that the amount of compensation provided would depend on the audit launched by the public auditors (KJPP).
Herlina of Batam District Attorney echoed Rudi, asserting that the compensation process “should follow existing regulations” and locals could not request compensation as they pleased.
Rudi did not give a hard deadline for the residents to sign the consent letter. However, several field staff from PT Makmur Elok Graha (MEG) had started the mapping process in Sembalung, escorted by joint security forces. MEG, a subsidiary of Artha Graha Group owned by politically wired tycoon Tomy Winata, spearheads the eco-city project.
The company has partnered with China’s Xinyi Group, one of the world’s largest glass and solar panel manufacturing companies.
Several other residents staged a protest when Rudi came to Sembalung, voicing their rejection of the relocation plan and demanding authorities have a proper dialogue with the affected communities.
Rudi refused to meet the protestors and passed through them.
Kurnia, one of the protestors, expressed his frustration by calling on President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo to acknowledge and legalise the kampung tua (ancient villages) across Batam. The President promised to give such acknowledgment during his second presidential campaign in 2019.
“We demand President Jokowi give the promised land certificates to us,” Kurnia said.
Authorities have also started building the necessary facilities for the relocated residents.
On Monday, Investment Minister Bahlil Lahadalia instructed the Public Works and Housing Ministry to start constructing the necessary basic infrastructure for evicted Rempang residents in Tanjung Banon.
Among the facilities were schools, community health centres, roads and places of worship.
BP Batam would be responsible for building the housing, while the public works ministry would focus on the financing and other infrastructure construction, Bahlil said as reported by tempo.co.
Last week, Coordinating Economic Minister Airlangga Hartarto said during his visit to Tanjung Banon that he had hoped local authorities would build water and electricity infrastructure to facilitate fisherfolks and farmers around the resettlement area.
“The government will issue a presidential decree to ensure the sustainability [of the eco-city project],” Airlangga added.
