Central Java Police Denies Intimidation Of Wadas Residents To Approve Andesite Mining For Bener Dam Material

The police distributed food packages to residents of Wadas Village, Bener District, Purworejo Regency. ANTARA/HO - Central Java Police Public Relations

PURWOREJO - Central Java (Central Java) Regional Police denied the issue of residents of Wadas Village, Purworejo Regency, who were forced by the authorities to sign an agreement for andesite mining as material for the construction of the Bener Dam.

The Central Java Regional Police stated that currently the process being carried out is the land measurement, not asking residents for approval for the Bener Dam project.

"There are no residents who are intimidated to ask for approval for the Bener Dam project. The Bener Dam project is currently underway. The Wadas area is an area used for andesite material extraction. So no residents are forced to agree to the dam project," said the Head of Public Relations of the Java Police. Central Grand Commissioner M Iqbal Alqudusy quoted by Antara, Thursday, February 10.

He admitted that he immediately checked the members on duty in the field.

"It turns out that there is absolutely none. It can also be cross-checked with the village head or sub-district head. I'm sure the answer will be the same," said Grand Commissioner Iqbal.

According to him, the joint action in the field at this time is to try to cool the situation and assist the Purworejo Regency National Land Agency (BPN) team which is measuring the residents' land for acquisition.

"Authorities also distributed hundreds of social assistance packages in the form of basic necessities to residents. This was done solely because we are also part of them. We have great empathy for the community," he said.

Residents of Wadas, Grand Commissioner Iqbal continued, currently have approved the acquisition of their land for andesite mining purposes.

The latest progress of land measurement is almost 90 percent. The main obstacle in the field is that many landowners live outside the city.

"Some are outside the city. Some are even outside the island," he said.

According to Grand Commissioner Iqbal, residents who own the land do not feel terror or pressure from the authorities. They even asked for land measurements to be carried out by BPN, accompanied by a joint team.

"There are also residents who ask that their land measurement be carried out immediately so that the business can be completed quickly," he said.

Iqbal emphasized that there were indeed pros and cons regarding land acquisition in Wadas. However, he ensured that there was no coercion by the authorities so that residents agreed to the construction of the Bener Dam project or land acquisition.

"Therefore, we ask the public to be wise in choosing and sorting the information circulating on social media, especially regarding the issue of the construction of the Bener Dam and the problems in Wadas. Many are misleading and do not match the facts," he said.

Meanwhile, in a separate place, the Head of Wadas Village, Fahri Setyanto, said that residents' activities were running normally after securing a number of people on Tuesday, February 8.

"Citizens' activities are normal, children continue to go to school and the majority of people who are farmers also go to the fields," he said.

Meanwhile, residents who had been detained by the police were sent home on Wednesday, February 9 afternoon.