Govt official pushes for land reform

JAKARTA: A lack of coordination between government institutions and conflicting legislation are to blame for current unresolved land disputes in the country, an official says.

Sujana Royat, the director of city planning and land reform at the National Planning and Development Body (Bappenas), said on Monday only 10 percent of some 11,000 land disputes in Indonesia had been settled.

"It is because many bureaucrats in the country ignore regulations that do not affect their respective institutions," he said on the sidelines of a three-day international seminar on land in Jakarta.

The fact that Indonesia has 12 legislations on land, many of which contradict each another, only makes the situation worse, Sujana said.

This situation has opened the door for a growing land mafia, he said. -- Antara