Local govts urget to protect investor interests

The central government has ordered local administrations to protect the interests of foreign investors by extending a helping hand to settle disputes, including those related to property ownership, said Vice President Jusuf Kalla.

"As long as the ownership of the land is legal, the local administration should favor the investors. They (the local government) should give a guarantee to foreign investors in their areas," said Kalla in a press briefing.

Aside from the "classic" problems confronting investors, such as illegal fees, corrupt bureaucracy and weak law enforcement, uncertainty in property ownership is now becoming more of an issue, especially for investors engaging in businesses related with forestry, agriculture and infrastructure.

Kalla said that the government acknowledged land disputes in several areas, such as in Papua and Kalimantan, which involved the operations of foreign investors, where local people often claimed that the place was ancestral land which should not be used for commercial means.

A recent decision by the government in issuing a presidential regulation on land acquisition for public interests has received largely a negative reaction, exacerbated by provocations by a number of political parties and non-governmental organizations.

The government says that the regulation is needed to speed up infrastructure projects of benefit to the public in order to address road congestion and distribution problems that may prevent the economy from growing at a targeted level of 6.5 percent annually. -- JP