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Leaders of the Suku Tanjung indigenous group in West Sumatra have taken full responsibility for a violent protest by hundreds of tribe members that resulted in the Agam district head’s office being pelted with rocks.

Jufri Nur, a tribal elder, said on Thursday evening that his people had not meant for the protest earlier in the day to get out of hand and lead to damage.

“We take responsibility for the damage that occurred because it was all our doing,” he said.

He added that the protesters were frustrated that the district head, Indra Catri, had not come out to meet them and discuss their grievances over a land dispute with plantation company Mutiara Agam.

“Before the protest I’d contacted Indra by phone and asked him to meet with us,” Jufri said. The violence “resulted from the people’s disappointment that he didn’t show up.”

The Suku Tanjung say that the district administration unlawfully granted Mutiara Agam a 2,500-hectare concession in Tanjung Mutiara subdistrict, almost all of which overlaps with their ancestral forested lands.

Their rally on Thursday turned violent when the protesters broke through a security cordon and they threw rocks and other objects at the district head’s office, shattering several windows. They also set fire to tires on the front lawn.

Hours after the violence, police managed to mediate a meeting between the tribal elders and the district head, in which it was agreed that the disputed 2,400 hectares would for the time being be placed under the supervision of the police.

The meeting also concluded that Indra should do everything possible to resolve the dispute to the satisfaction of all parties.

A follow-up meeting has been scheduled for March 3 to evaluate the progress.

For his part, Indra vowed to bring the case to a close. However, he warned that if there were more acts of violence, it would ultimately be to the detriment of the protesters.

The dispute is believed to stem from a decree issued by the district administration in 1988 that listed the land as unoccupied after a survey said the Suku Tanjung had moved away. 

Antara