Palm | Kelapa Sawit

Rioters ransacked Batang Kumuh village in Rokan Hulu regency, Riau province,
on Thursday night, burning 10 houses and injuring three residents.

"The attackers were employees of plantation company PT Torganda. They
claimed the villagers were occupying land belonging to the company,"
chairman of the Palm Oil Farmers Union, M. Nasir Sihotang, told The Jakarta
Post on Friday, adding the situation in the village, home to 300 families,
was still tense.

Nasir claimed there had been thousands of attackers. He added many of the
villagers fled into the forest.

"They ran away because they were outnumbered. We don't know what their
current condition is now," he said.

He added the attackers arrived at the village at about 8 p.m. and forced 10
families to leave their homes.

Using sharp weapons, the attackers then stabbed villagers who tried to fight
them, Nasir went on, adding that one villager was shot in the leg.

He said the attackers then set 10 houses on fire before leaving the village
at about 11 p.m.

The injured villagers were taken to a nearby hospital in Padangsidempuan,
North Sumatra.

"They were taken to the Padangsidempuan hospital because it's closer than
the hospital in *provincial capital* Pekanbaru," Nasir said.

"The road to Padangsidempuan is better than that to Pekanbaru."

According to Nasir, the land dispute arose when a villager sold 6,000
hectares of land to PT Torganda two months ago.

The company has since then frequently attempted to evict villagers who have
resided there for years, he claimed.

"Before the attack last night, the company had burned 20 sheds that
residents had already owned for years. The villagers still refused to leave
the land," he said.

Villagers have been growing oil palm trees on the land for years, he went
on.

He said his union had asked the North Sumatra Police to safeguard the
village in the wake of the first attack.

"But the attackers knew the weak point, so they attacked another part of the
village, which was not guarded," he said.

Rokan Hulu Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Hersadwi Rusdiyono denied there had
been any attack on the village.

"Yes, there was a burning. But the burning was of sheds of illegal
occupiers, not houses, and it was 10 kilometers away from Batang Kumuh
village," he said.

He added police had not registered any casualties among villagers.

He said the site of the alleged attack belonged to PT Torganda, in South
Tapanuli regency, North Sumatra.

"But villagers believe the land belongs to them," Hersadwi said.

"There is no clear decision from the government whether the land lies in
Rokan Hulu regency or South Tapanuli regency."

He added he had deployed officers to the area.

"We'll investigate the case impartially, " he pledged.