'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