Court case over land delays Jokowi plans for Java power plant

Jakarta

INDONESIA'S top court will rule whether the state can forcibly purchase land from farmers refusing to make way for a power plant, a test of President Joko Widodo's efforts to get stalled infrastructure projects moving.

Construction of the US$4 billion Batang coal-fired station on Java island was supposed to begin in 2012 but has been held up by villagers unwilling to sell their land, a common obstacle to projects in Indonesia. Mr Joko, better known as Jokowi, formally kicked off work at the site in August, yet three months later full-scale construction has not begun.