Ignorance of land legislation common: Expert
Ignorance of land legislation common: Expert
JAKARTA (JP): Most land disputes could be put down to the fact
that ignorance about land laws prevail in Indonesia, particularly
among poor people, according to an expert in land laws.
Boedi Harsono, a professor at the School of Law of the
Trisakti University, said yesterday that because of such
ignorance, many people, including farmers, have been exploited by
land speculators and financiers.
"Land disputes will continue to occur until people are fully
informed of their rights under the land laws," Boedi said in a
discussion to discuss the preparations for the drafting of the
regulations on mortgages.
He proposed a concerted drive to disseminate information to
the public about their rights under the land laws.
The discussion was organized by members of the House of
Representatives of the United Development Party (PPP) faction.
Also joining them was chairman of the Association of Indonesian
Lawyers Haryono Tjitrosubono.
The PPP representatives yesterday asked the experts' opinion
on whether or not the current agrarian laws should be reviewed to
strengthen the legal protection of land owners, particularly
small farmers and poor people.
"There is nothing the matter with the current laws," Boedi
said. "The problem is that the laws have been misused in their
enforcement in the field."
Of the various land laws, the most important is the 1960
Agrarian Law.
Boedi said the 1960 legislation is still relevant even after
35 years, in accommodating land problems encountered today.
Boedi, who once served at the National Land Agency, said many
people lost their battle in land disputes through a combination
of ignorance of the laws and weak bargaining position vis-a-vis
land speculators and financiers.
Sometimes, the financiers are even supported by government and
military officials, he noted.
This last point was supported by Haryono.
"It's no secret that there have been collusions between
government officials and financiers in some of the land
conflicts," he said.
Haryono said protests would not solve land problems. "They
still have to be settled through legal channels."
Boedi underlined that the 1960 law required that land disputes
be settled through the principle of musyawarah untuk mufakat
(deliberation to reach consensus), and this applies in the way
people set land prices.
Unless this principle is adhered to, no land deal is valid
under the law, he said.
Many people in land disputes complained that they were not
properly compensated for the land they had to give up to make way
for government projects of new luxury housing complexes. In the
majority of cases, they said, the land prices were set
unilaterally.
Boedi admitted that frequently land speculators and land
buyers resort to terrorizing people to force them to give up
their land.
He encouraged people who feel that they have been cheated out
of land deals to file lawsuits against the party who appropriated
their land.
They could also file a lawsuit against a government agency
involved in the conflict, through the State Administrative Court,
he said.
The 1960 law only allows forced appropriation of land through
a presidential decree, and even then the government has to prove
that the land is necessary to public interest. (rms)