Civic groups in Mojokerto have called on the central government to relocate the Rp 3 billion information center project, saying that it would certainly endanger the conservation of the former Majapahit kingdom archeological site in Trowulan, Mojokerto.
They said historical sites were far more important than a development project.
According to critics, the Heritage Conservation Agency of the central government has no sense of history when it gave priority to the development of the 2-hectare information center and turned a blind eye to the rife theft and illegal mining at the archeological site.
The secretary of Klinter Rejo village in Soko district, Zaenal Abidin, said that initially villagers had high hopes that their social welfare would improve with the presence of an information center at the site.
Villagers later opposed the project after learning that it would be constructed on an important part of the Majapahit kingdom, which is in need of excavation and reconstruction by archeologists.
"Before the protest from the public, we thought the archeological site had been badly damaged and did not require any further conservation efforts," Zaenal told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.
"Many parties were disappointed with the Heritage Conservation Agency and other relevant authorities who took no action against the rife theft that happened below their noses."
The information center project has been suspended on the orders of Tourism and Culture Minister Jero Wacik, following protests from experts and observers.
The project site will be relocated to another area.
The center aimed to provide comprehensive information for visitors and supported the government's decision to declare the site a tourist destination in the province. The center is also expected to promote home industries producing handicrafts and local food and cakes.
Zaenal said hundreds of stupas and other archelogical items had disappeared from the vast site since the 1980s, while illegal digging has damaged the walls of historical buildings which were buried in the earth.
A single brick from the site costs Rp 500 (4 US cents), compared to only Rp 225 for ordinary bricks," he said.
"The stupas have been sold for millions of rupiah per unit to antiques brokers, before being supplied to an international syndicate."
Zaenal has frequently caught local people illegally excavating but said that despite warnings, he did not do anything because they were unemployed villagers who needed to make some money.
Chairman of the Forum for Gotrah Witwatikta Majapahit Conservation, Anam Anis, said the forum would fight for the project's relocation because according to Dutch architect Heni Maclaine Pont, the archeological compound once housed Majapahit ministers and other high-ranking officials.
Maclaine Pont discovered in the 1920s a large pond that was believed to have been a reservoir in a Majapahit irrigation system. The pond is now known as Segaran Pond.
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