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Parangtritis development 'must not violate human rights'
The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) has warned the Yogyakarta administration not to violate residentsâ rights in its development of the Parangtritis coastal area in Bantul
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he National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) has warned the Yogyakarta administration not to violate residents' rights in its development of the Parangtritis coastal area in Bantul.
'All developments must have a human rights perspective,' deputy Komnas HAM chairman Ansori Sinungan said after joining a dialog with Parangtritis residents in Bantul on Monday.
Besides the dialog, representatives of the commission also visited residents' houses in Parangkusumo after receiving reports from local villagers afraid of being evicted.
The provincial administration plans to empty the area because it is home to rare sand dunes.
'The administration has to communicate with the people in order to avoid human rights violations,' Ansori said.
Komnas HAM, he added, would mediate communication between residents and the administration regarding the matter.
Local community leader Wahtin of Parangkusumo said that people living in the coastal area had been repeatedly threatened with eviction.
'Following the endorsement of the law on Yogyakarta's special status in 2013, we have been threatened with eviction, since the land we are living on belongs, to the Yogyakarta Palace,' said Wahtin, who claims to have lived in Parangkusumo for dozens of years.
Meanwhile, activist Kus Sri Antono of the Agrarian Community Communication Forum (FKMA) said land belonging to the Yogyakarta Palace and Pakualaman Principality during the Dutch colonial era now belonged to the state, as stipulated in Law No. 5/1960 on agrarian rights, which had been fully implemented in Yogyakarta since 1984.
'The law on Yogyakarta's special status is being used to try to reclaim land that during the Dutch colonial era belonged to the Yogyakarta Palace,' Kus said.
The agrarian conflict in Parangkusumo is just one of many disputes that have emerged following the implementation of the 2013 law.
On Sept. 9, Yogyakarta Governor and Sultan Hamengkubuwono X placed a peg on Depok Beach, not far from Parangkusumo Beach, marking that the sand dunes in the area belonged to the palace.
'This land belongs to Yogyakarta Palace,' the sultan said, as he officially launched Parangtritis Geomaritime Science Park.
According to Hamenkubuwono, the area needs to be cleared of trees and building that could change the direction of the wind and in turn threaten the existence of the rare sand dunes.
