Soeharto orders probe into Bekasi land title forgeries<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto ordered State Minister of
\nAgrarian Affairs Soni Harsono yesterday to step up efforts to
\neradicate increasingly rampant land title forgeries and punish
\nthose found guilty of the crime.<\/p>\n
\"The President particularly ordered me to investigate
\nforgeries in Bekasi where at least 200 documents were falsified,\"
\nSoni said after meeting with Soeharto at Merdeka Palace.<\/p>\n
The culprits had used sophisticated ways to produce land
\ntitles by using fake stamps and other documents.<\/p>\n
\"They sell them for Rp 200,000 (US$68) per document,\" said
\nSoni, adding that none of his officials were involved in the
\ncrime.<\/p>\n
Soni stressed the culprits must be punished severely because
\nthey had committed subversion against the government.<\/p>\n
\"Their activities do ruin the government constellation,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
They forged not only stamps of the mayoralty offices in Bogor,
\nWest Jakarta and Bekasi, but also other documents, including tax
\npayment receipts.<\/p>\n
\"Laymen frequently cannot identify whether the fake documents
\nare genuine as they are produced on brownish paper to make them
\nlook old,\" Soni said.<\/p>\n
The Bekasi police have questioned eight people for allegedly
\nbeing involved in land title forgeries.<\/p>\n
One of them was a former official of the National Land Agency,
\nwho was fired a long time ago.<\/p>\n
Soni urged people to be careful, when they intended to buy
\nland, asking them to check the land certificates with the local
\nagrarian office.<\/p>\n
The minister said that the land title forgeries, which are
\nbelieved to have involved officials of local administrations, are
\nbecoming increasingly rampant, not only in Greater Jakarta, but
\nalso in other provinces, including West Java and Central Java.<\/p>\n
Soeharto also instructed Soni, who is chairman of National
\nLand Agency, to simplify procedures regarding land title
\nacquisition and to abolish unnecessary costs paid by land owners
\nwhen arranging the certificates.<\/p>\n
In 1994 the World Bank and Australian government funded a
\nnational land title program for which Greater Jakarta was chosen
\nas a pilot project.<\/p>\n
The program was designed to help accelerate the issuance of
\nland certificates. This is in line with the government's
\ncomputerization of the registration of all land throughout
\nIndonesia, Soni said.<\/p>\n
Non-governmental organizations, however, have continuously
\ncriticized the bank for its lack of control over the program.<\/p>\n
\"With the assistance of their foreign counterparts, they have
\ntried to foil the program,\" Soni said.<\/p>\n
He acknowledged that some irregularities had occurred, but
\npointed out the importance of the program.<\/p>\n
\"We have convinced the bank that it benefits people,\" he
\nadded.<\/p>\n
Soni further said the government issued a decree this year to
\nhelp with the issuance of land titles for 75 million plots across
\nthe country.<\/p>\n
\"We appeal to the public to go directly to local agrarian
\noffices to process their documents. The cost is very
\ntransparent,\" Soni said. (prb)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/soeharto-orders-probe-into-bekasi-land-title-forgeries-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}