Govt won't revoke property decree
Govt won't revoke property decree
Rendi A. Witular and Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The government has stated that it would not withdraw nor revise a
regulation on land acquisition for public development purposes,
despite strong protests from some sections of the public.
Minister of Public Works Djoko Kirmanto said that because many
infrastructure projects had run aground due to problems related
to land acquisition, there was no other way for the government to
resolve the problem other than to issue such a regulation.
"There are many cases in which the construction of
infrastructure projects become stalled due to rejection by a
single landowner," Djoko explained during a press conference
after a meeting with Vice President Jusuf Kalla and other
government officials to discuss the issue.
The government issued last month Presidential Regulation No.
36/2005 on land acquisition for public development purposes,
which effectively allows the government to acquire land for
crucial infrastructure projects even if the landowners have not
agreed on the amount of compensation offered to them, thus
providing certainty for crucial infrastructure development.
The stipulation, which allows the government to revoke the
property rights of dissident landowners for the sake of the wider
public good, has been the subject of heated protests by a number
of non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The NGOs suspect that
the ruling actually was issued to serve the interest of the
wealthy infrastructure developers at the expense of the poor.
The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) on
Tuesday sent a letter to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono,
urging him to revoke the new regulation as it was against human
rights.
Komnas HAM described the regulation as "crueler than the land
regulation issued under the previous New Order regime" and was
similar to a ruling imposed by the Dutch colonial government,
which could revoke private property rights.
Komnas HAM said that the use of the term "public interest" in
the regulation to refer to the development of infrastructure
facilities such as toll roads and airports does not necessarily
serve the interest of the poor people.
"The development of toll roads has nothing to do with public
interest because such roads will only serve the interests of the
wealthy car owners," he claimed.
Meanwhile, head of the National Land Agency (BPN) Muhammad
Lutfi, said that the government was committed to provide
competitive compensation to landowners whose land would be
affected by development projects.
He said that the amount of compensation offered to landowners
would be based on the taxable value of their land and property
(NJOP), as determined by an independent appraisal team.
However, the amount of the compensation would not exceed 20
percent of the NJOP, said Lutfi.
Critics, however, have said that such a mechanism would not
necessarily ensure fair prices, especially if local
administrations had not revised the NJOP each year -- especially
in rapidly developing cities.
Meanwhile, Minister of Information and Communication Sofyan
Djalil said that the new land regulations would allow the
government to press ahead with the construction of the East Flood
Canal in the eastern part of Jakarta, and the construction of a
few sections of the Jakarta Outer Ring Road toll projects, which
have been stalled due to problems in land acquisition.
Rendi A. Witular and Tiarma Siboro, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The government has stated that it would not withdraw nor revise a
regulation on land acquisition for public development purposes,
despite strong protests from some sections of the public.
Minister of Public Works Djoko Kirmanto said that because many
infrastructure projects had run aground due to problems related
to land acquisition, there was no other way for the government to
resolve the problem other than to issue such a regulation.
"There are many cases in which the construction of
infrastructure projects become stalled due to rejection by a
single landowner," Djoko explained during a press conference
after a meeting with Vice President Jusuf Kalla and other
government officials to discuss the issue.
The government issued last month Presidential Regulation No.
36/2005 on land acquisition for public development purposes,
which effectively allows the government to acquire land for
crucial infrastructure projects even if the landowners have not
agreed on the amount of compensation offered to them, thus
providing certainty for crucial infrastructure development.
The stipulation, which allows the government to revoke the
property rights of dissident landowners for the sake of the wider
public good, has been the subject of heated protests by a number
of non-governmental organizations (NGOs). The NGOs suspect that
the ruling actually was issued to serve the interest of the
wealthy infrastructure developers at the expense of the poor.
The National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) on
Tuesday sent a letter to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono,
urging him to revoke the new regulation as it was against human
rights.
Komnas HAM described the regulation as "crueler than the land
regulation issued under the previous New Order regime" and was
similar to a ruling imposed by the Dutch colonial government,
which could revoke private property rights.
Komnas HAM said that the use of the term "public interest" in
the regulation to refer to the development of infrastructure
facilities such as toll roads and airports does not necessarily
serve the interest of the poor people.
"The development of toll roads has nothing to do with public
interest because such roads will only serve the interests of the
wealthy car owners," he claimed.
Meanwhile, head of the National Land Agency (BPN) Muhammad
Lutfi, said that the government was committed to provide
competitive compensation to landowners whose land would be
affected by development projects.
He said that the amount of compensation offered to landowners
would be based on the taxable value of their land and property
(NJOP), as determined by an independent appraisal team.
However, the amount of the compensation would not exceed 20
percent of the NJOP, said Lutfi.
Critics, however, have said that such a mechanism would not
necessarily ensure fair prices, especially if local
administrations had not revised the NJOP each year -- especially
in rapidly developing cities.
Meanwhile, Minister of Information and Communication Sofyan
Djalil said that the new land regulations would allow the
government to press ahead with the construction of the East Flood
Canal in the eastern part of Jakarta, and the construction of a
few sections of the Jakarta Outer Ring Road toll projects, which
have been stalled due to problems in land acquisition.