Govt drafting regulation to limit land holdings

JAKARTA (JP): The government is currently drafting a regulation to limit the size of land holdings by individuals, State Minister of Agrarian Affairs Soni Harsono said yesterday.

In a speech marking the 36th anniversary of the Land Reforms Law, Soni said that while the legislation recognizes individual ownership of land, it also underlines the "social function" that such ownership entails.

Ideally, the maximum holding in a city like Jakarta should be set at 5,000 square meters per individual, he said.

The limit would be different for companies, however, depending on how they use the land, whether it is for housing, plantations, sport facilities, or a business district and others, he said

Companies and individuals must also comply with the permits issued by the government, and what sort of land use is allowed by the permits, said Soni, who also chairs the National Land Agency.

He did not say whether the 5,000-square-meter limit will be imposed in the regulation now being drafted.

The limitation will be based on the principle of justice and protection of people's welfare, he said, stressing that protecting the interest of the "little people" is foremost in any government regulation.

Prior to the issuance of the regulation, the government will survey the present pattern of landownership and distribution of population, he said.

The government will move cautiously because new land regulations in the past often incited problems, Soni said.

The enactment of the 1960 Land Reforms Law has been toasted each year, by government and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) alike, because it was a landmark piece of legislation that sought to ensure justice over land ownership in predominantly rural Indonesia.

On Monday, a consortium of 65 NGOs concerned with land rights, urged the government to impose limits on land holdings, saying that the massive land buying by powerful businesses come at the expense of indigenous people.

Soni said that as the 1960 legislation only gives broad outlines on land ownership, "it has flexibility" in accommodating changes in society that have occurred in the last 36 years.

"There is no need to change the law," he said in his speech before some 80 officials at the National Land Agency.

The government has issued various regulations to implement the 1960 legislation, he said. "We will continue to improve them to keep up with changes in society.

"Three decades ago, the law was enacted chiefly to regulate agricultural land. Nowadays, the land is also used for industrial and residential areas," he said.

To accommodate these changes, the government has also enacted regulations that allow people to mortgage their property to obtain bank loans, he said. (16)