THE EDITOR – The Lausimeme Dam in Deli Serdang, North Sumatra, Indonesia, which was inaugurated by former President Joko Widodo, has left a special sadness for the people who live around it. Hundreds of residents have not received the compensation money they should have received since the dam was inaugurated 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.
In fact, the hustle and bustle of the inauguration of the dam by President Jokowi on Wednesday, 16 October 2024, seemed to be a milestone for the beginning of farmers’ welfare. But, what is really happening?
To find out about this, The Editor’s investigation team on Wednesday (12/2/2025) visited the dam site, which is located about 30 km from the heart of Medan City. Good and smooth road conditions and fruit plantations such as duku, durian, chocolate and lush oil palm make the journey very pleasant.
It is surprising that residents’ land is only valued at Rp15,000 per metre for a national standard programme such as the Lausimeme Dam when the contours of the road heading there are just fine.
The price itself was determined by the Public Appraisal Services Office (KJPP) of Mutaqqin Bambang Purwanto Rozak Uswatun and Partners (MBPRU), which was engaged by the Sumatra II River Basin (BWS) in Medan. On the other hand, the local government issued a higher NJOP price list for the residents’ land, at Rp20,000 per metre.
Upon arrival at the dam, our team was immediately greeted by dozens of residents who have been living in the dam’s public facilities for the past five months. They chose to stay alternately in front of the office of the Sumatra II River Basin (BWS) Medan since the government did not listen to their requests.
They come from five villages that are most severely affected by the dam’s construction. Every day, day or night, around 7-10 villagers take turns standing guard in the waiting area, which is located not far from the dam’s mosque.
They did this because their demand for justice for the price of plantation and agricultural land has not been answered by the government since the beginning of 2024.
Flooding due to heavy rain hit public facility in Lausimeme Dam where dozens people from 5 village in Sibiru-Biru Distric live for almost 5 months now already. The place did not equipped with divodong walls and properly floor (PHOTO: Elitha Evinora Beru Tarigan/THE EDITOR)
The group of people who are members of the ‘Peaceful Action’ movement are known to have met a number of officials to convey their wishes, such as the DPRD Deli Serdang Regency, DPRD North Sumatra Province, BWS Sumatra II Medan, KJPP MBPRU appraisal office, ATR BPN Deli Serdang Regency, Lubuk Pakam District Court, DPR RI in Senayan, KSP (Presidential Secretariat Office) Jakarta, Supreme Court, Ministry of PUPR, and Ministry of Home Affairs.
They even held a protest in front of the Monas Monument, Jakarta. To get to the capital, they took a public bus and travelled for 3 days and 2 nights.
“Because the payment of the nominative land price is not fair. We have been fighting for this land price for 5 years,” Nelson Meliala (49), a resident of Dusun 1 Kuala Dekah, Kuala Dekah Village, Biru-Biru Sub-district, Deli Serdang Regency, North Sumatra told The Editor.
Today, Nelson must sacrifice his 3.6 hectares of plantation land for President Jokowi’s National Strategic Project (PSN) without receiving proper compensation.
His land was only valued at Rp25,000 per metre by the BWS Sumatera II Medan in May 2024. This figure was decided by KJPP MBPRU, which was sought by BWS Sumatera II.
In fact, before 2024, Nelson Meliala was able to generate an income of up to Rp60 million per year from his 3.5 hectares of land which is a plantation of chocolate, duku, durian and rubber. The fruit trees planted by Nelson Meliala indeed are still relatively young. However, if left to grow, he predicts his income will reach Rp250 million per year. This amount continues to grow as his fruit trees age.
Unfortunately, the BWS Sumatra II Medan is only willing to pay compensation for his fruit trees for Rp1.3 billion, with the price of his plantation land only valued at Rp25,000 per metre.
FARMERS WERE FORCED TO GIVE THEIR LAND TO THE GOVERNMENT WITHOUT CONSULTATION AT A PRICE OF 15,000 PER METRE
These are men and women taking turns to live and stay in public facilities for 5 months (PHOTO: Elitha Evinora Beru Tarigan/THE EDITOR)
The fate of Nartum Sinuraya (55) is even more concerning. His 2.5 hectares of plantation land was only valued at Rp15,000 per metre even though it has been planted with rubber trees, areca nut trees, durian trees, and duku trees.
Nartum Sinuraya’s land is sloping like most fruit planters in Sibiru-Biru sub-district. However, he wonders why other land with the same condition is valued differently by the BWS Sumatera II Medan.
“Give that fair price. With this low land price, I will suffer for the rest of my life because I cannot afford to buy another land,” said Nartum Sinuraya.
Darwan Barus (54), a man from Dusun II Kuala Uruk, Kuala Dekah Village, Sibiru-Biru Subdistrict, Deli Serdang Regency, North Sumatra, told a different story.
Inheriting the land from his mother, Darwan now has to face the pain of being paid only Rp15,000 per metre for President Jokowi’s PSN project.
In the past, he and his family were able to generate an income of Rp200 million per year for one season.
“Meanwhile, the harvest can be 2 harvest seasons. The price of my mother’s land is already empty, the shape is flat – from the beginning it was flat. Please make justice and equity in this price issue because it does not match the neighbours received,” he said.
Darwan said there was an unreasonable price difference between one farmer and another for this project. His land on the roadside of Kuala Dekah Village was also given the same price, namely Rp15,000 per metre, while other land was valued at Rp300,000 per metre with sloping or uneven conditions.
“There is one next to me, they got Rp25,000 per metre. There is also someone who got Rp300,000 per metre. I was asked to go to court to demand this right (land price) but the cost of going back and forth to Lubuk Pakam Court is not enough,” he said sadly.
RESIDENTS FORCED TO GIVE UP THEIR PLANTATIONS FOR PRESIDENT JOKOWI’S PSN
The Editor also learnt the astonishing fact that the customary land owned by the kings along the dam’s banks was suddenly converted into Production Forest.
This change in the status of community land to production forest is also quite intriguing because such information is given by government employees and BUMDs who rent land owned by the people indefinitely.
The land leased by these individuals now stands Lausimeme Dam which is equipped with public facilities, BWS Sumatra II Medan office, mosque, and tourist attractions complete with 3 units of helicopter pad.
Until this news was revealed, the editorial team continued to try to contact one of the landowners who had leased his land with a multiyear contract to the unscrupulous government.
COMMUNITY LAND WAS CONVERTED TO PRODUCTION FOREST BY FORESTRY MINISTER MS KABAN WITHOUT COMMUNITY KNOWLEDGE
The Minister of Forestry in the former President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono era, MS Kaban, changed the status of land owned by the Karo Kingdom unilaterally without the knowledge of the community through the Decree of the Ministry of Environment and Forestry No. 579/Menhut/2014 on the Designation of Production Forest Areas.
Local media, Aktual Online, released information about the status of residents’ land on Saturday (23/3/2024) which states that in 1924 Biru-Biru Sub-district was once one of the tobacco plantation areas operated by the Dutch named Senembah Maatsschappij.
The land used by the Dutch was concession land. This data is strongly supported by Prasetiyo from Universitas Muhammadiyah Sumatera Utara who published a dissertation entitled Communication Strategy of Arih Ersada Organisation in Increasing Solidarity of Affected Communities.
