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Not for a billion rupiah: Wadas villagers continue Bener Dam protest amid deaf ears
Three years on since the Bener Dam project broke ground, the residents of Wadas village are still waiting for the government to sit up and listen to their protests against a planned quarry.
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One voice: Villagers prepare banners for protesting the planned quarry in Wadas, Purworejo, Central Java. The quarry is to provide andesite for constructing the Bener Dam, a national strategic project. (Gempa Dewa twitter/Courtesy of Gempa Dewa)
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t is Friday, April 23, 2021, and the residents of Wadas are gathered on the main road leading to their village in Purworejo, Central Java. They are sitting near a tree they have cut down to block the street to all “outsiders” and are chanting the shalawat (blessings upon the Prophet Muhammad). On the other side of the makeshift barricade, workers sent by the National Land Agency (Badan Pertanahan Nasional) are attempting to enter the village, accompanied by a fully equipped police contingent.
That day, the agency had planned to install survey markers as part of the Bener Dam project in several villages in Purworejo, including Wadas, Cacaban Kidul, Cacaban Lor, Kaliwader and Pekacangan. The villagers were trying to stop them.
The two parties conferred, along with attorneys from the Yogyakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH Yogyakarta) who were representing the residents of Wadas. Though tensions were escalating, the situation was still peaceful.
Then, while the talks were ongoing, a policeman suddenly started pulling a female villager by her hands. The action started a commotion.
Urip, a 43-year-old village resident, became trapped in the scuffle, standing at the front of the group as the police started pushing and swinging their batons.
“I nearly got hit and would have been if I did not run away. They swung their batons like orang ngamuk [a person consumed by rage]. My friend got hit in the hand by the police,” she told The Jakarta Post on May 5, 2021.
