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Human rights should be settled in Kulon Progo airport development: Lawmaker
The House of Representatives will not permit the disbursement of funds to develop a new airport in Kulon Progo regency, Yogyakarta, if the process violates the human rights of local residents, a legislator has warned
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he House of Representatives will not permit the disbursement of funds to develop a new airport in Kulon Progo regency, Yogyakarta, if the process violates the human rights of local residents, a legislator has warned.
Chairman of House Commission V on transportation Fary Djemy Francis said on Friday that the Rp 6 trillion (US$456 million) development funding was ready for disbursement, 'but under the condition that [the authorities] settle the land acquisition dispute that [has been deemed] to have violated [the people's] human rights,' he told The Jakarta Post after a meeting with Yogyakarta Governor Sultan Hamengku Bawono at the Kepatihan complex.
Fary said he would clarify the land dispute with the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas Ham).
Komnas Ham stated on Thursday that the development of the new airport violated the rights of local residents, four of whom have been charged with vandalism.
Farmers and land owners surrounding the development area have not received proper information regarding the affects of the project on their lives.
The planned new airport on a 645-hectare plot of farmland in Kulon Progo, where 11,501 people live, is set to have the capacity of 10 million travelers per year and with a 3,600-meter runway. It will replace the now overcrowded Adisutjipto International Airport.
Komnas Ham staff Mimin Dwi Hartono said that Yogyakarta administration had stated during Friday's meeting that the scenarios [of land compensation and relocation] for the affected people could not be revealed at present, 'because [the local government] doesn't want to deliver empty promises.' (++++)
