Land disputes expected to rise this year

Land disputes expected to rise this year

JAKARTA (JP): This year will see an escalation in the number
of land disputes, partly due to the country's economic upheavals
in the last four months, State Minister of Agrarian Affairs Soni
Harsono said yesterday.

But Soni believes that the increase in land disputes would not
have a "significant" political impact which could destabilize the
country.

"The disputes will be more economic oriented (rather than
politically oriented)," he said in his year-end evaluation and
1998 outlook on land issues.

Soni, who is also the chairman of National Land Agency, said
people would become more aware of their rights and go to greater
lengths to secure these rights. This he said would escalate the
number of land disputes.

Last year, the number of disputes sent to PO Box 5000 -- a
special address under the supervisory of the Vice President's
office set up to receive people's complaints -- totaled 590, two-
and-a-half times the 1996 figure.

The number of complaints received by his office and the
National Land Agency through its PO Box 4000 address, was 443, 36
percent higher than last year, Soni said.

He said most of the disputes centered around state-versus-
people's land ownership claims and the compensation offered by
the state to open the way for plantations, forestry and other
projects.

Soni said that a large number of disputes also stemmed from
conflicts between the state, or private-sector businesses, and
individuals claiming the disputed land as community property.

Soni said the concept of community land would eventually
vanish as people became more aware of their rights and finally
legally staked their land ownership claims to avoid disputes.

Soni said community land often became the center of disputes
because it did not have proper legal documents which subsequently
weakened its legal status.

The current development, according to Soni, is that people are
now beginning to split the ownership of community land.

He said community land did not exist anymore in Jakarta and
Java.

Community land now only exists outside the island of Java,
where according to Soni, people still live in a close kinship
society.

Assessing the price of land in 1998, Soni said "a significant
hike" would be unlikely as the lingering economic slowdown had
affected the property business, as was evident in the
difficulties being experienced by several real estate firms.

"However, land prices will not come down either," he added.
(aan)