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cores of residents seeking compensation for land they claim was taken away from them, closed down the Sentani Airport in Jayapura on Friday, suspending flights for about two hours.

Protesters, who came from the three tribal groups of Fele, Sokoy and Kalem, were seeking a Rp 79 billion compensation for their ulayat (collectively owned) land the local administration used to build the airport.

They placed crossbars on the runway from about 6 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. local time, stopping aircrafts from landing and taking off.

The Garuda flight serving the Jakarta-Makassar-Biak-Jayapura route, which was scheduled to arrive at the airport at 6:45 a.m., was forced to go back to Biak, and was only able to land at Sentani Airport at 9:15 a.m.

The Lion Air flight scheduled to arrive at 7:10 a.m. at, was only able to land at 10:20 a.m.

Protesters left the runway only after the Jayapura Police, led by its operational division chief Comr. Michael Tamsil, dispersed them. The airport resumed its normal activities at about 8 a.m.

However, upon leaving the runway, protesters blocked access to the airport traffic control (ATC) tower, preventing employees from conducting their daily activities.

Airport head Sukaryo Widjoyo agreed to meet with the protesters' coordinator, Karlos Sokoy, to discuss a follow-up to a governor's decree regarding this matter.

"We will shut down the airport again if the matter is not resolved," Karlos said.

On Aug. 28, Papua Governor Barnabas Suebu issued a decree asking the Jayapura regency administration to address the tribes' demand for compensation.

Sukaryo said he would meet the Jayapura regent on Monday to convey the protestors' demands.

The land that is now the airport compound, Sukaryo said, did not have an ownership certificate as it was surrendered by the Dutch colonial administration after the independence.

"The land has been an airport since the colonial days. So when the government changed, the airport was also handed over as part of the government's assets," he added.

However, he went on, since residents kept on asking for compensation, the Papua Transportation Agency ended up giving in to their demands. So far, he said, it had compensated them 10 times.

"I'm not sure about the exact amount, but before I was the head of the airport, they had already been compensated nine times.

I myself gave them a compensation in 2003, worth Rp 15 billion," he said.