Tommy Suharto to face Bali lawsuit

Tommy Suharto, the corrupt son of the former dictator, is to face a lawsuit from angry Balinese locals, over his land grab in 1995.

It has been known in Bali, for osme locals to be heavy handed with outsiders, when it comes to land and who owns it. Tommy Suharto had the military behind him, and tried to develop parts of Bali, without properly compensating local people.

Here’s more fom the Jakarta Post.

Tommy faces lawsuit in Bali
JAKARTA: A group of farmers in Jimbaran, Bali, filed a civil suit against the youngest son of former president Soeharto, Hutomo “Tommy” Mandala Putra, who was recently released from prison.

The farmers seek Rp 171 billion (US$19 million) in compensation from Tommy, whom they accuse of illegally occupying using their land for a lavish real estate project.

“The compensation is to pay for the 74-hectares of land acquired for the project,” group representative Gede Beratha said.

The real estate project, which was started in 1995, was to convert the land into an extravagant tourism resort that would include a five-star hotel, luxurious housing complex and 18-hole golf course.

The 1997 economic crisis brought the project to an abrupt halt. — JP

One of the famous Tommy projects, is Dreamland, on the western side of the Bukit peninsula. Tommy grabbed the land, booted the locals off it, then started construction on a resort, complete with huge road project leading down to the coast. After he went to jail, local wrecked the place, cut down the trees and put up a roadblock. They’d charge 5,000rp to let drivers through, saying they were the victims of corrupt Tommy Suharto. A couple of year ago, the army came back, under orders to control the place for whatever the new people in Jakarta planned, and stop illegal tolls. Pretty soon the soldiers started charging their own toll. Most of us knew they were not allowed to do this, so just hit the gas and went blazing through.

Judge Judy says: Tommy Suharto vs. Bali locals. No contest, Tommy wins.