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Analysis: Justice denied off the coast of Tangerang
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Agrarian and Spatial Planning Minister Nusron Wahid (second left) walks along a bamboo bridge on Jan. 24 while inspecting the 30-kilometer sea fence in Kohod village, Tangerang regency, Banten. The ministry revoked more than 250 land use and ownership permits along the sea fence, which was allegedly built by private contractors to lay the groundwork for a land reclamation project. (Antara/Putra M. Akbar)
T
he infamous sea barrier off the coast of Tangerang, Banten, which sparked public controversy early this year, has seemingly turned into a blame game between prosecutors and investigators, raising concerns about the country’s law enforcement against such a high-profile case.
The 30-kilometer-long sea barrier was first reported early this year after local fishermen filed complaints over the bamboo fence restricting access to their traditional fishing grounds, consequently affecting their livelihoods. The Indonesian Ombudsman estimated that around 4,000 fishers incurred income losses totaling up to at least Rp 24 billion (US$14 million).
The National Police’s Criminal Investigation Agency (Bareskrim) has declared four low-key suspects related to the case, namely a village head, village secretary and two lawyers. All of whom were apprehended strictly for the falsification of right-to-build (HGB) certificates. The person or party responsible for the establishment of the sea barrier, however, has remained unidentified, let alone arrested.
With the arrest of the four suspects, Bareskrim said there were no indications of corruption or state losses in the construction of the sea barrier, reducing the months-long investigation to a simple case of document forgery.
The Attorney General’s Office (AGO), however, asserts that corruption is indeed at play. They say evidence of corruption can already be found through Bareskrim’s findings since the rights of state-owned marine areas were given to privately owned businesses for the construction of the makeshift sea barrier, resulting in the loss of public ownership and diminishing economic returns from the local fishing industry.
The AGO returned the case files twice on March 24 and April 14, deeming the report by the police as incomplete. Prosecutors requested that the police include their Corruption Eradication Corps in continuing their investigation.
Analysts have supported the AGO and questioned the police’s hesitancy in tackling the big fish who are still at large, saying that it must have been impossible for low-level officials to be solely responsible for the entire contraption. A recent investigative report by Tempo revealed alleged witness tampering, where police demanded local fishermen not go into detail on the legal basis behind the provision of HGB certificates in the area.
