BPN chided for asking fees in providing public service

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Aben, a 57-year-old retired elementary teacher, visited the South Jakarta office of the National Land Agency (BPN) on Monday to check the legality of a land certificate with the intention of buying a house on the land, located in Pasar Minggu area, South Jakarta.

BPN, which manages land administration in the country, provides services related to land regulations for the public.

It is not unusual for common people as well as public notary officials managing land certificates (PPAT) to make such visits to BPN to check the legality of the land certificates before any transaction is made.

What's unusual is that the service is no longer free.

"It's ridiculous, I have to pay Rp 25,000 only for asking the legality of a land certificate!" he told The Jakarta Post.

However, Aben said that he had no other choice as he needed the service.

"I don't want to buy any property without knowing its status for sure, such as if it is in dispute. We must be very careful in buying any plot of land or houses," he said.

An officer at BPN, Herry, confirmed that since last month the office had began charging for the service. It is based on Government Regulation No. 46/2002 on fees for non-tax state revenue for the National Land Agency, which was issued on Aug. 27.

"The rule stipulates the fees for BPN's services, such as consultation and the checks on land certificates," he told the Post.

The regulation, which was signed by President Megawati Soekarnoputri, aimed at increasing the state revenue from the non-tax sector as well as developing transparency in the office to eliminate corruption.

Visitors who pay for services at BPN offices will be given receipts to avoid possible wrongdoings, Herry said.

However, lawyer Tubagus Haryo Karbyanto of the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute and Tulus Abadi of the Indonesia Consumer Foundation (YLKI) criticized the policy. They said that the government must give out public information free of charge.

"I don't understand why the government created the policy. Giving information to the public is a public right, it's the government obligation to serve its citizens," Tubagus said.

Tulus concurred, saying that the government shall not make money by selling information, which has become a public need and domain.

According to Tubagus, residents could report the case to the National Ombudsman Commission, an institution which observes bureaucracy, for a violation against public information.

"Citizens should not have to pay for public services. They have already paid various taxes for services such as this, which begs the question, where does that tax money go?" he stated.

Conflicts over land use, which often result in land ownership disputes, often occur in the country due to conflicting regulations that allow many institutions, instead of BPN, to issue permits on land use.

Based on Law No. 5/1960 on Land Use, BPN is supposedly the only land administrator in the country to manage land affairs, including issuance of permits.

Unfortunately, several other laws -- produced later -- had conflicted with BPN's authority. For example, Law No. 5/1957 on Forestry, which allows the forestry Ministry to issue permits to forest concessionaires.

Another law, Law No. 5/19 on mining gives authority for the Mining Minister to issue permits to mining concessionaires while the recent Autonomy Law in 2000 grants local administrations the authority issue permits on land use.