Forestry Minister: No applications yet for forest land for temporary and permanent flood shelters

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Forestry Minister (Menhut) Raja Juli Antoni has stated that to date, no regional government has applied for the use of forest land for temporary housing (huntara) or permanent housing (huntap) in the flood-affected areas of Sumatra.

“As of last week, there had been no applications. This indicates that state-owned assets (BMN) held by local governments remain adequate,” said Forestry Minister Raja Juli Antoni when met after opening a cat sterilisation activity and the Forestry Ministry Animal-Friendly programme in Jakarta on Thursday.

He explained that for both temporary and permanent housing for Sumatra flood survivors, in addition to land from local governments (pemda), there are areas of expired Land Use Rights (HGU) managed by the Ministry of Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning/National Land Agency (ATR/BPN) at several locations being used for the development of both types of housing.

“Therefore, no forest areas have been requested for either permanent or temporary housing,” clarified Forestry Minister Raja Juli Antoni.

Deputy Forestry Minister (Wamenhut) Rohmat Marzuki stated the ministry’s readiness to facilitate the provision of land in forest areas should it be needed and proposed by the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB) or local governments.

For temporary housing, the mechanism used is approval for forest area use. For permanent housing, the mechanism operates through forest area release in accordance with applicable legislation.

The Forestry Ministry had previously received a letter from the Public Works Minister regarding requests for forest area use for timber storage areas, construction of check dams, raw water provision, and handling of roads and bridges crossing forest areas.