Supporting Wadas Reservoir PSN, A Number Of Residents Admit To Being Terrorized And Threatened With Sajam

Bener Wadas Dam, Purworejo/ Photo: Antara

SEMARANG – The Wadas Reservoir construction project, Purworejo, Central Java is shrouded in pros and cons. After a long time this problem has been rolling, now many Wadas residents claim to be pro or support the project.

However, this support is not the end of the problem. The reason is, the people who support it actually get various kinds of terror.

Susanto, one of the residents of Wadas admitted that there was terror for the people who supported the project. Nurhayati, Susanto's son, said that his father was forced to move from Randu Parang after the keyhole was glued so he could not enter the house.

"Because he was afraid, I invited my father to stay at his house in Kali Urip Village," said Nurhayati in a short video received by VOI from a resource person, Tuesday, November 9.

In line with Nurhayati, one of the residents of Wadas named Sabar admitted that his motorbike was entered by salt and sand so that it was badly damaged. Sabar explained that at that time he attended the trial of the Wadas project lawsuit at the Administrative Court, Sabar as one of the witnesses who supported the Wadas dam project. But after the PTUN, Sabar found his motorbike was damaged, the tank was filled with salt.

Patience, one of the Wadas residents who claimed to have received terror from unscrupulous residents who were against the construction of the reservoir/ Photo: Screen capture video

"That happened to me after I came home from attending the Semarang Administrative Court trial. At that time I was a witness," he explained.

Regarding the terror experienced by Wadas residents, Fachri as the Head of Wadas Village confirmed that many residents who were pro-development of the Bener Reservoir National Strategic Project (PSN) received terror from certain elements. This has been happening for about a year.

"Terror began with threats with sharp weapons, social exclusion to physical damage. I myself was also terrorized," explained Fachri through video recordings.

In fact, according to Fachri, the majority of Wadas residents have agreed and are ready to release land for the construction of the reservoir.

"Of the 429 land owners, 350 are ready to acquire land. That's more than 80 percent of the residents," he explained.

The village head regretted the terror of fellow residents who, according to him, were assisted by outsiders from Wadas. For this reason, he expects patrols by the police to be intensified throughout the Wadas area.

"There are four entrances to Wadas village. But the counter group guarded the three entrances to the village so that the officers could not patrol. Even when Bhabinkamtibmas was intercepted first, there were several people who were not Wadas people," explained Fachri.

Fachri, Head of Wadas Village/ Photo: Screen capture video

Fachri hopes that this condition will improve soon, the disputes between the pros and cons will not drag on. For this reason, he hopes that outside parties will not worsen the situation in Wadas.

"Regarding that the project disturbs residents' water sources and so on, that is not true. There has been research from UGM on that," he added.

Responding to the viral video and comments from the Head of Wadas Village, the Central Java Police Chief through the Head of Humas, Kombes Pol M Iqbal Alqudusy expressed concern about the situation. The Central Java Police hopes that the conflict will soon be over so that development in the local village can run smoothly.

"The National Police have actually tried to be persuasive in this case, even though the local Bhabinkamtibmas was prevented from visiting the village. We only hope that the Wadas situation is conducive. Residents who are in dispute can get back together," he explained.

In fact, according to M Iqbal, people who prevent police officers from legally carrying out their duties can be subject to articles 212, 216 and 218 of the Criminal Code. The authority of the National Police in carrying out their duties is also stated in Articles 13-15 of the Police Law No. 2 of 2002.

"So far we have prioritized a persuasive approach. However, there must be a concrete solution so that the problem does not drag on. We have long discussed the solution to the situation in Wadas with the local Police Chief and Forkompinda," he concluded.