House members urge synergy for industrial estates
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)