Java losing land to tourist spots
Java losing land to tourist spots
JAKARTA (JP): Java, the home to more than half of Indonesia's
195 million people, cannot afford to lose more of its fertile
land for recreational projects, a legislator said yesterday.
Moch. Marsinggih suggested that the government stop issuing
permits for tourist projects in Java, known as Indonesia's most
fertile island, so as to maintain it as a major food producer.
"The government should use its authority to seize land from
investors who have long neglected the land they have acquired for
whatever reasons," said the House member from Commission V
overseeing tourism, housing and telecommunications.
The Indonesian government is determined to make the tourism
sector its biggest single foreign exchange earner as of the
seventh Five Year Plan (Repelita VII), which starts in 1999 to
replace its drying oil reserves.
The loss of agricultural land in Java takes place at an
alarming pace. According to State Minister of Agrarian
Affairs/Chairman of the National Land Agency Soni Harsono, about
50,000 hectares of fertile land on the island is acquired every
year to make way for development projects.
To preserve fertile land, Jakarta has asked local governments
to tighten rules on the appropriation of agricultural land.
In the latest controversial recreational projects, the
government of Tangerang, West Java, have given the green light to
a Jakarta investor to acquire 4,000 hectares on land for a
seaside resort in Teluknaga.
In some provinces, regulations on land acquisition are mere a
heap of dung because appropriation of vast areas for development
projects often involve collusion between entrepreneurs and local
government officials.
According to Marsinggih, many investors have misused the
government permits. "For example, there are cases where investors
use up to 60 percent of their land to build public housing
instead of recreational facilities such as hotels," he said.
The legislator from the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI)
suggested that the government and investors turn their attention
to the outer islands for tourist development. (pan)