THE EDITOR – Residents affected by the construction of the Lau Simeme Dam in North Sumatra are still hoping that the government will provide justice for them, regarding the different price of lands they must give to the government to build the dam.
Lau Simeme Dam was inaugurated by former President Joko Widodo, before leaving a great sadness for the people who live around it. Hundreds of residents have not received the compensation money since the inauguration on 16 October 2024. Not only that, other problems also arose after President Jokowi left office, as it turned out that residents’ land was not valued as it should be.
One of the victims affected by the dam is Ngampun Tarigan (75). The resident of Rumah Gerat Village, Sibiru-Biru Subdistrict, said that the Public Appraisal Services Office (KJPP) Mutaqqin Bambang Purwanto Rozak Uswatun and Partners (MBPRU) initially only valued his plantation land at Rp40,000 per metre.
However, he rejected the price after learning that the neighbouring land was valued higher than his.
“How come the price of the land next to me is more expensive, when they are both located on the side of the road? Let’s take a look, I told the officer (KJPP MBPRU), how come the price is 80,000 per metre while their land condition is steep. Why is that? Let’s see it ourselves. My land is flatter, why is it cheaper?” Ngampun Tarigan mimicked his question when he met with the KJPP MBPRU officer.
Hearing this, Ngampun Tarigan continued, the KJPP MBPRU officer immediately changed the price. But they only raised Rp10.000 per metre from before, from Rp40,000 per metre to Rp50,000 per metre.
THE EDITOR VISITED THE OFFICE OF SUMATERA II RIVER BASIN IN MEDAN
To find out more about this condition, The Editor visited the office of Medan’s Sumatera II River Basin (BWS), located on Jalan Jenderal Besar Nasution, Johor Baru, Medan, North Sumatra.
The institution is tasked with building and managing the Lau Simeme Dam. The dam itself was built so that the flooding that has been plaguing Medan City can be resolved.
We arrived at the office around 11.50am. Unfortunately, as it was lunch time, we had to hold ourselves and wait.
Only after around 02.00pm the front office team of Sumatera II River Basin Medan was back and met us.
We submitted an interview request letter which was a requirement to meet the Head of the office, Agus Safari.
Not only that, we also contacted Safari’s personal WhatsApp number to ask a few questions. But he only answered at around 03.36pm.
At around 2.40pm, The Editor was finally invited to go up to the 3rd floor of the BWS Sumatera II building. However, we only met the Head of the Dam and Development Work Unit Maruli Simatupang and BWI Sumatera II Medan Commitment Making Officer David Sanjaya Sutikno.
Maruli Simatupang was reluctant to be interviewed and requested that the list of questions requested by the BWS front office team to The Editor be answered by David Sanjaya Sutikno who was also in the 3rd floor room.
Regarding the price paid differently by the government, David Sanjaya Sutikno said that the government has compensated the people affected by the Lau Simeme Dam.
“For the price of this land, it is the authority of the Public Appraisal Services Office (KJPP) Mutaqqin Bambang Purwanto Rozak Uswatun and Partners (MBPRU). We cannot intervene in that and the data can already be validated by them (residents) themselves,” David explained.
David also claimed that BWS Sumatra II Medan had answered the requests of residents in 5 villages in Sibiru-Biru sub-district.
He admitted that he did not know how long the dam would be closed and could be operated properly.
Meanwhile, Head of BWI Sumatra II Medan Agus Safari only answered The Editor’s WhatsApp message at around 3.36pm.
