Land grabbing rife in Aceh

Land grabbing rife in Aceh

BANDA ACEH, Aceh: Head of the Aceh office of the National Land Agency (BPN) Rutny M. Saleh said yesterday that the number of cases of land grabbing in the province has increased in the last two years.

"The increasing number of cases of land grabbing follows the soaring land prices in the province and rising demand for land for development projects," Rutny told Antara.

He said that the increasing number of land disputes started in 1990 when a square meter of land cost only Rp 5,000 ($2.2). Currently, the price is Rp 20,000 per meter.

The local office of the land agency issued 25,000 land titles last year, almost a 50 percent increase from 1993, when it issued 16,000 titles.(imn)