Central government wants to claim right over land use

Central government wants to claim right over land use

Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Authority over land use may be the next point of contention
between the central government and local administrations as the
former considers claiming back the right over land use in the
regions that had been given over to the latter since the
implementation of regional autonomy in 2000.

Speaking after a Cabinet meeting on Thursday, Minister of Home
Affairs Hari Sabarno said the step was necessary to ensure the
effective use of land and avoid overexploitation of the land.

"There should be a regulation that not all land usage can be
determined by local administrations, some should be in the hands
of the central government," Hari said after the meeting led by
President Megawati Soekarnoputri.

He underlined that the step was necessary because there were
too many contradictory regulations at the local level that
created loopholes for the local administrations to mismanage the
land.

He also asserted that articles of law on agrarian affairs,
forestry, mining, transmigration and irrigation were not in line
with the law on regional autonomy.

The government has been trying to revise the autonomy law, but
this has always met with strong opposition from regents, mayors
as well as regency legislative councils across the country.

The incomplete implementation of regional autonomy and the
widespread misunderstanding about the autonomy law have raised
new conflicts between the central government and provincial and
regional governments.

Besides causing misinterpretations, the implementation of
regional autonomy has also raised a number of territorial
disputes between the regions and the central government and among
provinces and regencies.

The government's new stance on land usage will surely receive
further resistance from the regions.

"We are fully aware that the right to determine land usage has
been decentralized, but it should not disturb the interests of
the various government offices," Hari remarked.

Meanwhile, National Land Agency (BPN) head Lutfi Ibrahim
Nasution said that in the Cabinet meeting it was also agreed to
utilize abandoned land, including land earmarked for property
projects.

"If the land belongs to farmers, then we will help the
farmers. But if the land has been earmarked for other purposes,
then we will make it productive," Lutfi said.

In the Cabinet meeting, the government also decided to develop
more farming lands in Sumatra and Sulawesi islands and more
plantations in Kalimantan island and the western part of Sumatra
islands.

"The decision was taken to ensure food security for the
country," Lutfi said.