Land Mafia Practices Growing More Complex, The State Must Not Lose
Criminal law expert and Secretary of the Doctoral Programme at Jayabaya University, Kristiawanto, said that land mafia practices are growing increasingly complex, not only relying on alleged document forgery but also exploiting gaps in land administration, inheritance disputes, data overlaps, and litigation processes. He noted that weak synchronization of land administration remains one of the main problems exploited to build claims over land objects.
‘Hukum pertanahan tidak bisa hanya dipandang dari aspek administratif semata. Dalam banyak perkara sudah terdapat indikasi tindak pidana yang memerlukan penanganan serius dan terintegrasi,’ he said at the National Dialogue Forum titled ‘Mafia Tanah 2026: Negara Tidak Boleh Kalah’ organised by the PB HMI in South Jakarta on Wednesday (20/5).
Chairman of the PB HMI’s Legal, Defence and Security Division, Rifyan Ridwan Saleh, said the forum is part of efforts to push reform of the land system and strengthen law enforcement against land mafia practices in Indonesia. He noted that land mafia is not only a matter of ownership disputes but has developed into a problem involving legal certainty, protection of the public’s rights, and the integrity of administration and national law enforcement.
Kanit V Subdit II Dittipidum Bareskrim Polri, Ricky Paripurna Atmaja, explained that the present land mafia patterns are more organised and involve various modus operandi, from the use of problematic documents, ownership conflicts, to exploiting weaknesses in the old administrative system that has not yet been digitised. He emphasised the need for inter-agency synergy, strengthening document validation, and overseeing land administration processes to prevent abuse of land rights.
Head of the Subdirectorate for Handling Conflicts of Groups of People and Customary Land Ulayat within the Directorate for Prevention and Handling of Land Conflicts, BPN RI, Rocky Soenoko, explained that the government is continuing to digitise certificates, integrate land data, and strengthen handling of agrarian conflicts as part of reforming the national land system. He said modernising land administration is essential to reduce overlapping rights, use of old documents, and protracted land ownership disputes.
The forum then broadened to discuss the importance of legal certainty in handling land mafia cases, strengthening public oversight, and the need for professional and transparent law enforcement to avoid eroding public trust in state institutions.
Imparsial criticised the use of military and police personnel in agrarian conflicts. Annisa Yudha urged civil and mediation approaches to prevent criminalisation of local residents.
Former Vice President Jusuf Kalla expressed anger that his 16-hectare land in the Tanjung Bunga area, Tamalate District, Makassar, South Sulawesi, had been seized by others.
The Makassar land dispute case involving Jusuf Kalla again underscored the serious problem of land mafia practices and overlapping land administration in Indonesia.
Legal counsel for NV Hadji Kalla, H. Hasman Usman, openly rejected statements by Lippo boss James Riady, whom he described as an attempt to wash their hands of the 16-hectare land dispute.
Hari Azwar, Chairman of Barisan Pemuda Rakyat (Badar) South Sumatra, urged Commission III of the DPR not to be misled and to assess the land mafia clearly, rather than portraying them as victims.
Gus Falah also highlighted the substantial losses to the state from unlicensed or illegal mining. He quoted the Director General of Village Administration at the Ministry of Home Affairs, La Ode Ahmad P Bolombo, who stressed that defining village boundaries is urgent to create legal certainty and reduce inter-village conflicts.
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