National Land Agency to be computerized

BANDUNG (JP): The National Land Agency (BPN) will computerize its data processing to improve poor service that has often been blamed for disputes over land ownership.

The agency has linked up with the Spanish government and the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) to implement the Land Office Computerization project, agency officials said over the weekend.

Spain has provided US$16 million in soft loans, mostly for hardware and a two-week training course for 128 employees, which began Friday.

The agency is cooperating with ITB to implement the project, which the government will also spend Rp 4 billion (US$1.7 million) on.

BPN deputy chief for general affairs, Widodo, who initiated the training course, said the project would also facilitate the agency's on-going land title program.

The program that started in 1994 was funded by the World Bank and Australian government. The agency has issued 167,514 land titles, since June 30 this year, in West Java where the pilot project was being conducted.

The Land Office Computerization project will be implemented in 13 regencies and mayoralties in eight provinces in Indonesia.

Selected regencies were Deli Serdang in North Sumatra, Bandung in West Java, Semarang, Sleman and Wonogiri in Central Java, and Malang and Sidoarjo in East Java. Mayoralties involved include Bandar Lampung, East and South Jakarta, Bandung, Ujungpandang, and Semarang.

"Hopefully it will help reduce social conflict, which mostly stems from unclear land ownership before people buy land. Often a plot of land one buys belongs to somebody else who has the title," Widodo said.

Such occurrences happen in almost every city in Indonesia where land is highly valued for residential, industrial, commercial, or office complexes, Widodo said.

"This happens when a plot of land is claimed by more than one person or it has more than one title issued by the same office. This ruins any legal certainty," he said.

Through computerization, Widodo said, the agency will be able to finish registering all land parcels in Indonesia in 25 years.

"Since 1960, only 30 percent of land parcels in Indonesia have been registered at the agency, and the agency has issued 17 million titles," Widodo said.

He said the lack of land titles was largely to blame for land- related disputes and problems in Indonesia.

Spanish government representative, Javier Ollero, expressed hope that through "computerization and modernization", the land agency would be able to provide a much better service.

Ollero said the Spanish government might give more financial assistance to support the project in the future if it later considers the project's first phase a success.

The first phase of the project only covers the computerization of 21 land agency offices and training centers throughout Indonesia, Ollero said. (aan)