Rural Residents Struck by 'Money Thunder' from Land Sales Buy 176 New Cars

National Oil Company Buys Land from 225 Households at Once
Residents Receive Average of 600 Million Won Each... Traded at 40,000 to 60,000 Won per 1㎡

A video showing a line of trucks carrying new cars entering a small island village in Indonesia has gone viral.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bong-ju] A video showing a line of trucks carrying new cars entering a village on an island in Indonesia has gone viral.

According to reports from Tribune News and others on the 18th, a video circulating on social media shows dozens of trucks loaded with new cars, including luxury sedans, entering the village of Sumurgeneng in East Java, Indonesia. The video, filmed on the 14th, captures police escorting the convoy of tow trucks along a narrow rural access road.

The Indonesian state-owned oil company purchased land all at once from 225 households in the village to build a refinery. The villagers, who suddenly became wealthy, were confirmed to have bought cars without exception. Most of the villagers are farmers.

The village chief said, "The residents who became rich by selling their land bought cars first. In some cases, one family bought two to three new cars," adding, "As of now, 176 new cars have been delivered to the village, with 17 more arriving the day before yesterday." He estimated, "The residents who sold their land received an average of 8 billion rupiah (630 million KRW)."

He continued, "Among those who sold land, 90% signed contracts to purchase new cars, 75% bought replacement land, and 50% are building new houses. Only a very small number are starting new businesses," he said.

The state-owned oil company Pertamina purchased land from three villages to build a factory on a 8.41 million square meter (2.544 million pyeong) site. In Sumurgeneng village, land owned by 225 households out of a total of 840 households was bought, with land prices ranging from 600,000 to 800,000 rupiah (47,000 to 63,000 KRW) per square meter.

A resident who sold 40,000 square meters (12,100 pyeong) received 26 billion rupiah (2.05 billion KRW), while another resident received 38 billion rupiah (3 billion KRW).

A resident who sold 27,000 square meters and earned 18 billion rupiah (1.4 billion KRW) said, "I bought two sedans and one truck, and plan to start a new business."

Indonesia's per capita annual GDP in 2019 was $4,175 (4.88 million KRW). Considering this, the amount of money the villagers received is very significant.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.