Luhut Claims Rempang Residents Willing to Be Relocated

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment, Luhut Binsar Panjaitan, said the Rempang residents are generally willing to be relocated. He made the statement in response to the conflict over land acquisition for the Rempang Eco City project on Rempang Island, Batam.

“As we have identified it, the people generally want it (relocation). There’s no problem,” he said at the opening of the 2023 Marine Spatial Planning Service Expo (MSPS) at Pullman Jakarta, on Tuesday, September 19, 2023.

He admitted that the government had adopted an inappropriate approach to the community, and was now taking a better approach. “We may slow down the progress of the Rempang project,” he said.

Based on his experience in dealing with land acquisition, he said there would be no problem if it was thoroughly identified. He also said that there must be provocateurs in the land acquisition issue. Such provocateurs, he added, must be dealt with separately.

Luhut further stressed that the public needs to be informed in detail about the relocation plans, such as where their child will go to school, where they will work, and so on. “If it is well disseminated, there will definitely be no problems. And this is what we are working on,” he explained.

Luhut believed that with good and detailed dissemination, people would want to be resettled. Not to mention that the government has prepared compensation for the community affected by the Rempang Eco City project.

YOHANES MAHARSO JOHARSOYO

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