Land disputes top list of social problems: NGOs

JAKARTA (JP): Activists asserted over the weekend that land disputes have grown more complicated in the past several years and now top the list of social problems in Indonesia.

Zoemrotin K. Susilo, chairwoman of the International Non- Governmental Organization Forum on Indonesian Development, said that land-related complaints dominate press reports on cases human rights violations.

Zoemrotin's colleague, Asmara Nababan, identified the three most-reported social problems as land disputes, labor strikes and disputes, and violations of human rights.

Both Zoemrotin and Nababan discussed the increasing importance of land cases in relation with the conference of international NGOs in Canberra scheduled from April 26 through April 28. The gathering will focus on the issues of land and development.

Zoemrotin quoted studies conducted by Gadjah Mada University and the Legal Aid Institute office, both in Yogyakarta, on how reports of land disputes regularly surface in the Kompas, Suara Pembaruan, Media Indonesia and Jawa Pos daily newspapers.

"The House of Representatives and city councils have all been swamped by public complaints about land problems," said Nababan, who is also a member of the National Commission on Human Rights.

Emmy Hafild, an activist at the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) on Friday accused the National Land Agency of ignoring numerous suggestions and calls made by NGOs to help handle land complaints.

On a separate occasion, State Minister for Agrarian Affairs and Chairman of the National Land Agency Soni Harsono said his office does not hold the ultimate authority to resolve land problems.

"The public needs to understand the limited ability of the agency and stop blaming it for things that go wrong," he was quoted by the Antara news agency as saying on Saturday.

"The land agency alone cannot solve land problems, but has to cooperate with other agencies," he said, adding that cooperation is not easy when there is a lack of coordination between the agency and the ministries of home affairs, forestry and transmigration. (16)