Thousands of village heads threaten to boycott public services

Thousands of village heads and their staff from across the country rallied in front of the House of Representatives on Monday demanding the parliament endorse the village development law this year.

The village public servants, grouped under Parade Nusantara (Indonesian Village Heads Association), arrived at the demonstration wearing green and brown uniforms.

They arrived using dozens of buses that parked on the side streets of Jl. Gatot Subroto which temporarily halted traffic flow.

One of their demands is to allocate 10 percent of the state budge as a specialized grant for villages, to improve their local economy.

Sudir Santoso, Parade Nusantara chairman, said that village authorities would boycott all public services at village level if their demands failed to be implemented.

"The government should listen to us as 78 percent of the Indonesia population live in rural areas," he said.

Abdul Rozak, the head of Besito village, Gebog district, Kudus regency, Central Java, protested at the parliament having failed to endorse the bill for more than 10 years.

"It's ironic. The government took only one hour to disburse the Rp 6.76 trillion Bank Century bailout funds that pleased just a few," he said.

Priyo Budi Santoso, a House deputy speaker, talked to the protesters, vowing to accommodate their aspirations. "I really understand what you need, there is no other choice but to endorse the bill this year," he said.