I've seen a few references before on the BTF about a proposed retirement project on Lombok, but there weren't many details and I still don't know that much about it.
And for some reason the news escaped all the mainstream media that in Tanah Awuk village in Lombok, police fired at about 1000 unarmed villagers who were protesting about being forced off their land to make way for a new international airport that is being built to support the European-funded retirement project.
Thirty three people were injured, including women and children, from a combination of rubber, plastic and regular bullets, as well as police beatings.
Such actions are nothing new in Indonesia. Many forumites would have received a receipt from the former occupiers of the land where Tommy Suharto's projects were built around Nusa dua that outlined why these people were charging 5000rp for driving down that road. Taman Mini in Jakarta was built on land that required the forced eviction of thousands of villagers.
It is, however, disconcerting that such things are happening now, with the apparent approval of SBY, who was voted in under the belief he was genuine about fighting corruption. More worrying is the fact that the attack didn't even make it into most of the indonesian press. Even the kinda-sorta leftish Jakarta Post didn't mention it.
Anyway... while I'm sure we can all agree that it would be lovely to have a holiday in a five-star resort on Nusa Dua, or retire in a pleasant expat village on Lombok, I am hoping we can also agree to:
1. Do what we can to prevent violence against people being run off their traditional land today and in the future.
2. Do what we can to ensure that when they are inevitably run off their land, their suffering is minimised.
3. If any wealthy people are holidaying or planning to retire in areas built on illegally or immorally claimed land, please consider donating a fraction of what you are spending on accommodation to make reparations to the former occupiers of the land.
A more detailed report from the Land Research Action Network can be found here:
http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=44&ItemID=8817
Cheers.