Papua is Indonesias poorest region

Indigenous peoples rely on their land for their survival and therefore any incursion onto their land creates serious problems for any community, Sophie Grig, a senior campaigner for Survival International, a UK-based indigenous rights advocacy organization, told IRIN. These incursions in West Papua generally also involve the presence of the military to protect the project [which] leads to human rights violations.

Over the past four years, at least 74 people have died in the village of Baad alone - one of more than 160 across Merauke- due to infighting between communities created by disagreements over the sale of land to agribusinesses, and police brutality, according to Leonardus Maklew, a Baad resident who has been representing nine Malind villages in negotiations to defend their land from an Indonesian sugar cane plantation since 2010.

The most serious consequences have been human deaths. Up until now, the police, companies, and military never tried to understand our needs and our struggle, said the 35-year-old ethnic Malind man.

Police and military personnel routinely accompany companies when they come to ask the Malind to sell their land. It is a form of intimidation, said Sophie Chao, a project officer with the Forest People's Programme (FPP), a non-profit organization registered in the Netherlands that campaigns for the rights of indigenous peoples of the tropical forest facing environmental destruction and human rights violations.

Since 2009, when the local government initiated planning for the Merauke Integrated Food and Energy Estate (MIFEE), a mega development project aiming to convert more than a million hectares of forest to agribusinesses in Papua, at least 12 corporations have moved into areas inhabited by an estimated 116,500 indigenous peoples generally known as the Malind, who are struggling to survive in increasingly degraded, deforested environments. Tribal leaders co-opted?

While police and military brutality against indigenous Papuans is nothing new in this resource-rich, former Dutch colony, violence between communities on this scale is unprecedented, residents say.

The government says we are just a hot-headed people, always fighting, but it is worse now. Tools that used to be used for hunting are now used against one another, said Maklew, explaining that bows and arrows, and knives, are all commonly drawn during fights, which have occurred at least once a month since corporations started (in 2009) trying to convince villagers individually to sell their land, bypassing customary collective decision-making processes.

Company spokespeople of PT Anugerah Rejeki Nusantara (ARN), a sugar cane plantation owned by the Wilmar International Group (WIG) headquartered in Singapore, often co-opt tribal leaders, paying them a salary to convince the other villagers to sell their land, according to the FPP, and without giving full information to communities that they will not see their land again, according to Rainforest Foundation Norway, an NGO that campaigns for the protection of rainforests and their inhabitants. WIG strongly denies the charge.

Wilmar pledges to respect and recognize the long-term customary and individual rights of indigenous and local communities,stated WIG in a public statement on 5 December 2013.

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Conflict in Indonesias Papua Region

One of the biggest pieces of legislation under consideration in City Council right now a land bank bill has turned into a debate over competing ideas for amendments, some of which significantly alter Council's authority over the land bank.

City Councilor Deb Gross, who introduced the legislation Jan. 14, and has acknowledged her original bill needed improvement, has released some ideas for amendments along with City Councilor Corey O'Connor (though not the exact language) on the city's website.

Gross' original proposal would create a quasi-government authority that would be responsible for centralizing the city's blighted/vacant/tax delinquent land and work with homeowners, community groups and developers to turn those properties around. The land bank, authorized under state law, can exercise a 'trump bid' at treasurer's sale (meaning the land bank can acquire property without being the highest bidder) and can expedite the title-clearing process (meaning it can resolve potential ownership conflicts more quickly).

Not surprisingly, the bill has generated lots of debate: Who should serve on the land bank's board of directors? Should City Council have a vote on the final use of individual properties? How should community groups or individual neighbors be included in the process?

And those are some of the issues that prompted city councilors Daniel Lavelle and Ricky Burgess to release their own set of amendments earlier this month that, among other things, would expand the board of directors to include "community-based organizations" and would require unanimous council approval anytime the land bank wants to turn over a property it has acquired.

Gross and O'Connor have responded with their own ideas for amendments that would also expand the board to include community members, but would not give council authority over the disposition of its land.

City Paper invited city councilors Gross, O'Connor, Burgess and Lavelle for a roundtable discussion last Friday to chat about these issues and that will appear on our website and on newsstands tomorrow.

For now, though, here are some of the highlights of Gross/O'Connor's ideas for amendments (after the jump).

*Community members can force the land bank to hold public hearings on disposition of land. If 15 "nearby residents" petition the land bank within 30 days of the notice of sale, the land bank would be required to hold a "pre-disposition Public Hearing in the neighborhood."

*The land bank board must vote on the disposition of all property from the land bank. The original bill gave the land bank's staff authority to made decisions on property worth less than $50,000, a provision that angered Burgess who argued there are plenty of properties in his district below this threshold and staffers shouldn't be allowed to decide what happens to them.

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Land Banking: It's a battle of amendments

The Olathe City Council scrutinized two major redevelopment projects Tuesday rezoning some land for a single-family housing area and clearing the way for a residential care facility.

The council partially approved a plan for residential redevelopment proposed for the south side of College Boulevard and the west side of Lone Elm Road.

It agreed to rezone 13.6 acres from a business park to a single-family residential area. Sunnybrook Management Co. LLC plans to build 21 lots averaging 8,400 square feet. Two other parts of the redevelopment were tabled for further study.

Those proposals included rezoning 28 acres of business park land to allow 71 single-family lots, ranging from 8,300 to 9,000 square feet, and 26 other acres of business park land to make way for 94 luxury villas.

Several members of the council said they needed time to consider rezoning a large amount of business park land for residential use.

I need more time to wrap my head around how much (business park) space we have left in the city, said Councilman Jim Randall. It is a precious commodity that we wont have much more of one day.

The council was not hesitant to approve a revised special use permit for a residential care facility, Bloom Senior Living, to be constructed near 133rd and Greenwood streets.

At its Jan. 21 meeting, the council had tabled voting on the special use permit after asking for revisions to a building design criticized as too commercial-looking and flat.

Since then, the developer added stone chimneys, bay windows, shutters and faux balcony railings around select windows, and a wraparound porch with columns on the northwest corner of building.

It will be a beautiful project and Im looking forward to seeing it constructed, Councilwoman Marge Vogt told the developer. Thank you for listening to us.

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Olathe OKs some rezoning at College and Lone Elm

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Details Published on Friday, 21 March 2014 09:25

Perak MB/Google ImagesIPOH: More than 17,000 hectares of land in Perak have been illegally cleared, resulting in the state government losing hundreds of millions of ringgit in revenue.

Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir said the illegal activity was believed to be done in a planned manner by certain groups.

It is not some small activity, there are areas where the activity is done in a syndicate manner, he told reporters after the Selamat Pagi Perak Bersama Menteri Besar programme over PerakFM here today.

He said besides the Land and Mines Office, the enforcement now involved the police and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

There may have been weaknesses before in enforcement resulting in it now being rampant, and there wasnt a good mechanism to control this from happening, he said.

Zambry said various steps were being taken to overcome the problem including identifying the affected areas and legal action which could be taken against those responsible.

He said there were several cases where the responsible parties were identified but managed to escape.

-The Malay Mail http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/perak-state-government-loses-millions-due-to-illegal-land-clearing

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Perak State Government Loses Millions Due To Illegal Land Clearing

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20 March 2014| last updated at 09:04PM

"We are losing millions in earnings due to the illegal land clearing," he said.

Speaking to reporters after the Selamat Pagi Perak radio programme on Perak FM here today, Zambry said the problem of illegal land clearing was all over the state, but the more prevalent districts were Batang Padang, Manjung and Perak Tengah.

"I do not want to blame anyone, but the problem could have been due to weak enforcement and the lack of mechanism to control it worsens the problem," he said.

Zambry said illegal land clearing in the state was undertaken by syndicates.

"Sometimes these syndicates will put a few people to work on the land - to pull wool over the authorities eyes, but the syndicates are the biggest culprit," he said, adding that the state had combined all relevant authorities like police and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to keep the land clearing in check.

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Zambry: 43,000 ha of Perak land illegally cleared

The Land Conservancy of McHenry County is hoping for volunteers to help welcome spring by attending a restoration work day.

No experience is required, just dress to work outside. Tools and refreshments will be provided. Upcoming events include:

March 26, 10am-1pm at Wonder Lake Sedge Meadow. This 28-acre natural area features one of the best views in McHenry County, looking through oak woods, past the wetland and across the west bay of Wonder Lake. Take Greenwood Road north from Route 120 through the Village of Greenwood to West Wonder Lake Road. Turn right and follow the road about 1 1/4 miles to the Wonder Lake Village Hall. The work site is east of the Village building.

March 28, 10am-1pm, Oak Rescue at Van Marens woods. This 40-acre property was protected by the landowner with a conservation easement donated to TLC in 2013. Oaks as old as 350 years have been found on the property. Take Route 14 west from Woodstock to Lembcke Road. Turn left (west), proceed 1 1/4 miles and park in the field on the north side of the road. Approximate address is 20202 Lembcke.

March 29, 9am-noon at Gateway Park in Harvard. Volunteers have finished much of the restoration in the oak woods on this 17 1/2 acre natural area located at the intersection of Route 23 and Heritage Lane on the south side of Harvard. Weather permitting, brush piles will be burned and the site will be prepared for a possible ecological burn in April.

March 30, 10am-1pm at Ryders Woods in Woodstock. This 23 acre gem in the heart of the city includes oak woods, a pond and a small prairie. Volunteers will continue clearing brush to open the site up for spring wildflowers. From the intersection of 14 and 47, head north on 47, left on Lake Ave, and left on Kimball Ave. The park will be on your right. Nearest Address: 750 E Kimball Ave, Woodstock.

Contact Melissa Hormann for more information at 815-337-9502 or email mhormann@conservemc.org

TLC is a local nonprofit organization that works with individuals and communities to preserve and restore natural, scenic and agricultural land http://www.conservemc.org

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Land Conservancy needs volunteers

by Rintos Mail, reporters@theborneopost.com. Posted on March 21, 2014, Friday

KUCHING: The construction of new homes for the 20 families from Kampung Mambong affected by the clinker plant about 20 years ago is expected to take off in a few months time.

Public Health Assistant Minister Datuk Dr Jerip Susil said Syarikat Perumahan Negara Berhad (SPNB) would build the houses under the Rumah Mesra Rakyat (RMR) scheme.

However, given that the infrastructural costs, including piling, are not covered within the price of the RMR, the project could not take place until the basic infrastructures are in place.

Dr Jerip, who is Bengoh assemblyman and co-ordinator of the resettlement project, admitted that the resettlement of the 20 families from Kampung Mambong, at Mile 16 off Jalan Puncak Borneo, was long overdue.

He said the land clearing and levelling was done in 2009, but the resettlement committee wanted piling work to be done on the land that was formerly a swamp.

To implement the infrastructural work that includes piling we need funds. I have written to the State Development Office for some funds to enable us to implement the long overdue project.

Im expecting the funds to be given out either end of this month or in April. As soon as we get it, we will start to implement the infrastructural work.

Hopefully, construction will be in progress by end of this year, he said.

Asked if the temporary occupational licence (TOL) for every lot is ready, Dr Jerip said there shouldnt be any problem issuing it.

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Housing for families displaced by clinker plant to start soon