'Hak ulayat'

'Hak ulayat'

In my comments on the sale of oil palm plantations to Kumpulan
Guthrie Bhd (The Guthrie deal: Land laundering, published in The
Jakarta Post on March 21, 2001), I made a reference to the
communal land rights of traditional communities and mentioned
that such rights were "generally known as hak ulayat. This phrase
was reproduced by The Jakarta Post as "generally known as hak
rakyat".

Whereas hak rakyat is a very loose and informal concept, hak
ulayat is a term recognized by formal law. The word ulayat,
derived from the Arabic word wilayah, originally only indicated
the system of communal land rights found within the Minang
culture of West Sumatra. However, it has become a general term to
capture all types of traditional land administration system. The
main characteristic of these systems is that the bond between the
community and the ulayat land is permanent. The land may be used
by members of the community, subject to specific rules, but it
may not be given or sold to outsiders. Outsiders are allowed to
use the land only after obtaining explicit permission.

Until a few years ago, the official government standpoint (as
presented by the National Land Agency, BPN) was that hak ulayat
was a thing of the past and no longer existed. As a result, the
ministries of forestry, mining and transmigration, for example,
could designate "unoccupied" land for concessions and projects
without having to consider whether they were trespassing on the
ancestral domain of a particular community.

The principle of ulayat, however, is still alive and well and
can be found in many areas from Irian Jaya and East Nusa Tenggara
to Kalimantan and Sumatra. There is, however, a general tendency
toward individualization of land rights as outside influences and
the need for individual bank credits become part of the local
economy. In areas such as Aceh, West Java and Bali, for example,
communal land rights had already disappeared by the beginning of
the 20th century.

The government has now also acknowledged the existence of
ulayat land through a regulation of the Minister for Agrarian
Affairs/head of the National Land Agency, No 5/1999, which
provides some initial guidelines on identifying and protecting
the lands of traditional communities. Much more must be done,
however, to confirm the authority of these communities (i.e. the
entire community, not just their leaders) and so strengthen their
position in negotiations with government agencies and private
investors.

PIETER J. EVERS

Jakarta