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)