Few islanders have land title

JAKARTA (JP): Only about 20 percent of 1,180 plots of land in the Thousand Islands have been titled, a local senior official said over the weekend.

Deputy subdistrict chief Kusno said few people on the sprawling islets were aware that legal land documents were needed.

On the islands, residents get a receipt when they buy a plot of land, while the regulation requires a certificate from a notary, he said.

The local government has been conducting an information campaign for the islanders on the need to title their land, and has set up an easy and cheap bureaucratic procedure for them to obtain the documents, Antara reported.

The Thousand Islands subdistrict is made up of 110 islets covering a 6,997-square-kilometer area north of Jakarta. According to latest official statistics, it has a population of 16,224. (pan)