Soeharto did not get land illegally: Durin<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): State Minister of Land Affairs Hasan Basri Durin
\nsaid on Thursday that his office has not found any violations in
\nthe way former president Soeharto acquired land in various areas,
\nbut acknowledged that the amount involved may cause "social
\nenvy."<\/p>\n
Durin told reporters covering a discussion held by the
\nIndonesian Society of Transparency (MTI) here that none of
\nSoeharto's land was obtained in ways which contradicted the
\nagrarian law.<\/p>\n
However, the amount involved may disturb "people's sense of
\njustice," he said.<\/p>\n
He did not mention how much land is controlled by Soeharto or
\nhis family, but cited a number of examples, including 750
\nhectares of farmland in Tapos, West Java.<\/p>\n
The land may have been obtained legally, he said, but for the
\ntenant farmers displaced when the land was acquired, "it's not
\nfair."<\/p>\n
He conceded that one of the main difficulties in investigating
\nthe legality of Soeharto's land ownership was because many plots
\nwere obtained and are registered under company names.<\/p>\n
Efforts to determine the true value of wealth allegedly
\namassed by Soeharto during his 32 years in power have so far been
\nheld back by technicalities such as proving land ownership.<\/p>\n
The day-long discussion also featured agrarian law expert
\nMaria S.W. Sumardjono from Yogyakarta's Gadjah Mada University,
\nMohamad S. Hidayat, a real estate industry executive, I Gusti M.
\nTantra from the forestry and plantations ministry, Thoriq
\nBasalamah from the Indonesian Real Estate Association (REI) and
\nlaw professor Koesnadi Hardjasoemantri.<\/p>\n
During the discussion, Durin promised his office would issue a
\ndecree to set a maximum area to the amount of land that can fall
\nunder the control of private enterprises and business groups.<\/p>\n
He said the planned decree would limit real estate companies
\nto controlling a maximum of 400 hectares in a province and a
\ntotal of 4,000 hectares countrywide. A resort and hotel developer
\nwill be allowed to control a maximum of 200 hectares in a
\nprovince and a total 2,000 hectares nationwide.<\/p>\n
He said the decree would set a maximum of 400 hectares in a
\nprovince and a total of 4,000 hectares nationwide for an
\nindustrial zone developer; a maximum of 20,000 hectares, or a
\ntotal of 100,000 hectares nationwide for a plantation company;
\nand a maximum of 100 hectares in Java and 200 hectares in other
\nprovinces, or a total of 2,000 hectares nationwide for
\naquaculture enterprises such as prawn farms.<\/p>\n
Sugar plantation companies will be allowed to control a
\nmaximum of 60,000 hectares in a province, or a total of 150,000
\ncountrywide, he added.<\/p>\n
He pointed out that companies were only granted land use
\nrights and that the government technically retained the actual
\nownership.<\/p>\n
Durin, a former governor of West Sumatra, also said the
\ngovernment had recently issued a regulation on the utilization of
\nidle land.<\/p>\n
Maria spoke about what she believed to be flaws in national
\nland management regulations that had led to a proliferation of
\ndisputes. She cited cases where residents had invaded unused
\nareas of land and laid claim to rights of use.<\/p>\n
Coordinating Minister for Economy, Finance and Industry
\nGinandjar Kartasasmita recently revealed that many large plots of
\nland under private company ownership are lying idle.<\/p>\n
He said the plantation sector had been granted permits for 2.9
\nmillion hectares of land, of which only 470,433 hectares, or 16.2
\npercent, had been tilled.<\/p>\n
On Thursday, Maria said Durin was just beginning to "taste how
\nmessy things have been" in national land management.<\/p>\n
She said the main cause of trouble in land affairs was the
\nimbalance of access to land ownership and control, with ordinary
\npeople frequently losing out to business interests.<\/p>\n
"(So the new) land policy must allow people to obtain and
\nutilize land as well as enable them to participate in the
\ndrafting of land use plans," Maria said.<\/p>\n
Maria said the decree to be issued by the government should
\nencourage fair and peaceful settlement of disputes. (aan)<\/p>",
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