AHY: Land issues among the most common public complaints
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Coordinating Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono (AHY) has said that land and agrarian issues are among the most commonly reported matters by the public to the Indonesian Ombudsman.
AHY made the statement after receiving a visit from Ombudsman representatives to discuss the supervision of public services in five ministries under the coordination of the Coordinating Ministry for Infrastructure and Regional Development (IPK).
“We mapped it out earlier; the most numerous complaints indeed concern agrarian affairs, land matters, because there is a great deal of public service in the land or agrarian sector, including regional spatial planning,” AHY said at a press conference in Jakarta on Wednesday.
AHY said land issues are complex because they encompass various forms, including land conflicts that can last for years and involve many parties.
According to AHY, protracted land conflicts often require a rapid response from the government, both at the provincial level through regional offices and at the district/city level through land offices.
In addition to the agrarian sector, the meeting with the Ombudsman also discussed a number of public service issues in the transportation, public works, and housing sectors.
In the transportation sector, one issue that received attention was safety at level crossings. He noted that there are currently around 1,400 level crossings whose safety aspects need to be continuously improved.
The government, he said, continues to make various efforts, including the construction of crossing gates and the deployment of officers to monitor a number of crossings.
AHY also mentioned input regarding post-disaster rehabilitation and reconstruction in Aceh, North Sumatra, and West Sumatra, including issues related to roads, bridges, housing, and water resources.
He assessed that input from the Ombudsman is important for the government because public reports can provide a specific picture of service problems on the ground.
AHY said the IPK Coordinating Ministry will use this input to improve coordination and public services in the five technical ministries under its coordination, namely the Ministry of Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning/National Land Agency, the Ministry of Public Works, the Ministry of Housing and Settlement Areas, the Ministry of Transportation, and the Ministry of Transmigration.
Meanwhile, Deputy Chairperson of the Indonesian Ombudsman Rahmadi Indra Tektona said his institution hopes that collaboration with the IPK Coordinating Ministry can be strengthened to improve the quality of public services while preventing maladministration.
According to him, the Ombudsman has a network of 34 representatives in various regions that can provide data and information related to public services in the working areas of the ministries under the coordination of the IPK Coordinating Ministry.