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.