Activists divided over agrarian reform<\/p>\n
Moch. N. Kurniawan and M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Two groups of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are divided
\non whether the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) should annul
\nDecree No. 9\/2001 on agrarian reform and natural resources
\nmanagement.<\/p>\n
One side, including the Indonesian Farmers' Federation (FSPI),
\nthe Bandung, West Java-based AKATIGA Foundation, and the Center
\nfor Agricultural Studies, has demanded the revocation of the
\ndecree on the grounds that it has reduced the concept of agrarian
\nrights to one of mere landholding, while they said it also
\ninvolved air and water.<\/p>\n
The decree was also prone to violations of farmers' basic
\nrights, it said.<\/p>\n
On the other side, NGOs like the Biodiversity Foundation
\n(Yayasan Kehati), the Indonesian Forum for the Environment
\n(Walhi) and the Consortium for Agrarian Reform (KPA) urged the
\nMPR to maintain the decree, saying it was good enough to
\nestablish a basis for land and natural resources reform.<\/p>\n
The NGOs supporting the decree are grouped in the Working
\nGroup on Agrarian Reform and Natural Resources Management (Pokja
\nOrnop PA-PSDA).<\/p>\n
\"This decree will lead to the revision of the Law No. 5\/1960
\non Agrarian Affairs that governs the land, air and water and the
\nproduction of a law governing land only,\" said FSPI secretary-
\ngeneral Henry Saragih, a supporter of the first group.<\/p>\n
As evidence of this, he said President Megawati Soekarnoputri
\nissued Decree No. 34\/2003 on national land policy late in May,
\nwhich requires the National Land Agency (BPN) to speed up the
\nrevision of the agrarian law.<\/p>\n
\"With this Presidential Decree and the mandate it gives to the
\nBPN to accelerate the revision of the agrarian law, it is obvious
\nthe law will be reduced to nothing more than a law governing
\nland,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"We do not want the law to be revised as its contents are
\nimbued with a spirit of respect for farmers' and indigenous
\npeople's rights, and environmental conservation,\" Henry said.<\/p>\n
Following the revision of the law, he said that plantation
\nfirms would press the government to extend the terms of
\nconcessions to 90 years from the present 30 years in the name of
\ninvestment security.<\/p>\n
\"How can this be justified to the majority of farmers, who
\nhave to struggle hard to obtain just half a hectare of land,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
The decree also has the potential to increase violence against
\nfarmers' rights by focusing on the optimizing of natural
\nresources exploitation as stated in article 5 (2) (b), (d) and
\n(g), he said, quoting from a statement by the National Commission
\non Human Rights (Komnas HAM).<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Pokja Ornop PA-SDA said in a statement that the MPR
\nDecree was enough to realize the goals of agrarian reform,
\nincluding fair distribution of land.<\/p>\n
It criticized the government for having done a little to
\nimplement the decree, so that land disputes, agrarian crime and
\nenvironmental destruction continued to occur.<\/p>\n
Indonesia has huge problems regarding the distribution of land
\nownership as between poor farmers, rich farmers and the private
\nsector.<\/p>\n
In 2000, 80 percent of the country's farmers owned less than
\n0.5 hectares of land, according to the Ministry of Agriculture.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, data from the Consortium for Agrarian Reform showed
\nthat as of 2000, some 2,178 plantation firms controlled
\nconcessions covering 3.52 million hectares.<\/p>\n
The amount of land in the hands of a few firms is even more if
\nmining and forestry companies, which control vast areas of land,
\nare included in the figure.<\/p>",
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