Land disputes hinder development in Samosir

Land disputes hinder development in Samosir

Ridwan Max Sijabat and Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post/Pangururan

The increasing number of people being detained for land disputes
in the new regency of Samosir Island has led to the inmate
population there swelling by almost 50 percent in a year,
officials say.

The number of prisoners at Pangururan jail had increased to
350 in March from about 240 in February last year, data from the
regency said.

Officials say skyrocketing land prices have caused more
frequent land disputes in the regency where land ownership
certificates are rare and land is still communally owned and
passed down to children through bloodlines.

Land prices had increased because of the expected development
in the new regency and now ranged between Rp 50,000 (US$5.50) and
Rp 1,500,000 a square meter, Tutuk Siadong subdistrict head
Saudin Samosir said.

Empty land on the hills dotting the island now cost between Rp
20,000 and Rp 50,000 a square meter, farmland prices have risen
by almost 100 percent to Rp 200,000 while the land prices in
townships Tomok, Tuktuksiadong and Pangururan have increased to
between Rp 1 million and Rp 1.5 million a square meter.

Modern houses in the regional capital of Pematang Siantar were
now being rented for up to Rp 1 million a year, Saudin said.

Samosir is an mountainous island surrounded by Lake Toba,
which is popular for its natural beauty. Located some 900 meters
above sea level in North Sumatra, the island is a favorite
tourist destination in the country after Bali and Senggigi in
Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara.

Saudin said many people believed development in basic
infrastructure and tourism would be on the rise following the
area's new regency status and regional autonomy.

"Much of the land on the island has remained idle and is
communally owned and it has been difficult for the government to
buy land on the island because, apart from the drastically
increasing land prices, the land is not certified and belongs to
traditional communities.

"In the Toba Batak tradition, land is part of communal (or
clan) identity and it is passed on to descendants to be
maintained. It is impossible for someone to sell communal land
without approval from their extended families," he said.

Many land disputes had surfaced recently because many empty
patches of land were being claimed by one or more families, he
said.

Acting regent Wilmar Elyascher Simandjorang warned local
people of increasing serious land conflicts that he said could
undermine the planned development programs for the area.

"So far, the regental administration, including the regental
legislature, is still renting buildings and it will be unable to
afford the expensive land. Besides, investors are expected to be
reluctance to invest on the island unless land reform is
conducted," he said.

Legalizing land ownership was only one of numerous problems
the new regional government was facing in its efforts to improve
services to the public and to help improve its constituents'
welfare, he said.

The regency was also short of the money needed to resolve all
the problems in the regency, and would need the help of Samosir
residents.

"The people, especially traditional and informal leaders,
should contribute communal land to the government and investors
to allow it to make changes in the regency. With the presence of
government offices, locals will have an easy access to public
services and investors would be able to help create jobs," he
said.

He said the incoming administration would have a lot of work
ahead of it improving new regency's poor human development index.

"More than 40 percent of the regency's 130,000 population are
still living under the poverty line and 30 percent of them are
unemployed. The average annual per capita income is only Rp 4
million. We do not yet have a general hospital and we have only
three public health centers to serve the people in all nine
subdistricts. The quality of human resources is still low here
because most people have not had higher educations than
elementary or junior high school level," he said.

The infant and maternal mortality rates in rural areas also
remained still high because of the lack of medical facilities and
midwives, he said.

Wilmar said concentrating on organizing the regional elections
scheduled for June 27 meant he had little time to resolve the
social, economic and environmental problems in the province.

"Many prospective candidates with many different backgrounds
have emerged and the local office of the General Elections
Commission (KPUD) and the regental legislative council is still
making preparations for the polls," he said.

He said the region's former administrator, the greater Toba
Samosir regency, did not seem interested in helping out the new
electorate.

"The funds we receive from Toba Samosir are not enough to
cover our annual operations and we are still running short of
many more staff to handle administrative affairs."