House members urge synergy for industrial estates

JAKARTA (JP): More House members and officials have supported a suggestion for better coordination and cooperation between the central government and local administrations in expediting land acquisition procedures for industrial estates.

"The central government and local administrations need to synchronize their policies regarding the acquisition of land for industrial estate developments," said Budi Hardjono, the deputy chairman of the House of Representatives' Industry and Trade Commission, yesterday.

Poor coordination may cause investors to lose their way in the jungle of rules and procedures which are sometimes contradictory, he said.

Hardjono supported the National Land Agency's plan to set up an interim ministerial team to look into problems affecting land acquisition for industrial estates and possible solutions.

The problems became public two weeks ago when the National Land Agency disclosed that only 3,921 hectares of the 53,000 hectares licensed for industrial estates had been developed.

The issue seemed to have reached a critical point when House member Tadjoedin Noer Said recently suggested that a special Presidential task force be set up to address the problems.

The land agency said most of the industrial estate projects already licensed by government seemed to have been bogged down in bureaucracy or prey to land speculators.

Minister of Agrarian Affairs Soni Harsono has issued a ruling prohibiting location permits for industrial projects planned outside Bekasi, Tangerang, Bogor and Karawang regencies in West Java.

The ruling, apparently designed to spur industrial estate development, stipulates that new industrial projects must be established in industrial estates.

According to Hardjono, the central government and local administrations cannot act simply as aloof supervisors in processing land acquisitions.

"They should intervene directly for the interests of both investors and land owners," he added.

In a related development, Asril Noer, the secretary of the Investment Coordinating Board, said yesterday his office would play an active part in the team to investigate land acquisition problems.

The board is interested in facilitating smooth, efficient land acquisition for investment projects because land problems can discourage new investors, he said. (vin)