Otto emphasises strengthening synergy to resolve church land certification

Jakarta (ANTARA) - Deputy Coordinating Minister for Law, Human Rights, Immigration, and Correctional Services Otto Hasibuan has emphasised the strengthening of cross-ministerial synergy in resolving church land certification. Based on data collection and analysis conducted, several obstacles exist in the process of obtaining ownership certificates for church land, particularly related to the legal entity status held by churches. “Coordination among agencies has been running well, so if there are still technical needs, they can be immediately directed and followed up by the relevant ministries and institutions,” Otto stated, as confirmed in Jakarta on Friday. He expressed appreciation to the Ministry of Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning/National Land Agency (ATR/BPN) and the Directorate General of Christian Community Guidance of the Ministry of Religious Affairs (Ditjen Bimas Kemenag) for their synergy and joint commitment in addressing the issue. According to Otto, the Coordination Meeting and Synchronisation of Follow-up on Obstacles to the Approval of Ownership Rights over Church/Religious Body Land, held in Jakarta on Wednesday (15/4), has resulted in important progress in resolving policy and regulatory issues. The meeting represents a strategic step by the government to strengthen coordination across ministries and agencies to accelerate the resolution of various administrative and technical obstacles related to land ownership certification for church legal entities. “This meeting we held has been successful. When there are technical issues, policy and regulatory matters are resolved,” he said. In his presentation, it was conveyed that based on coordination results and a review of applicable laws and regulations, several aspects require joint attention in the land certification mechanism for church legal entities. As a solution, ATR/BPN has provided the “Non-AHU Subject” feature in its electronic system to facilitate the land ownership certification process for church legal entities. Nevertheless, he noted that administrative challenges remain, including the potential change of church institutional forms to foundations or associations, which is seen as conflicting with theological doctrine and the long history of church autonomy. Head of the Bureau of Law and International Cooperation of Kemenag Imam Syaukani affirmed that from his institution’s perspective, church legal entities that already have legality should not face obstacles in the recommendation process. “If they already have a legal entity, there should be no obstacles,” Imam stated. He explained that there are various stages that religious legal entities can undertake in the church land certification process, including a designation mechanism that needs to be carried out through Kemenag. Head of the Sub-Directorate of Institutions of Ditjen Bimas Kristen Kemenag Marvel Kawatu stated that the meeting results will be immediately socialised to members of the Communion of Churches in Indonesia (PGI). He explained that churches can submit a letter to Ditjen Bimas Kristen to obtain a recommendation as the basis for issuing a ministerial decree regarding the designation of ownership in the name of the church legal entity. In response, PGI General Secretary Darwin Darmawan expressed support for the government’s steps and readiness to socialise the mechanism changes made by ATR/BPN to all church members. Meeting participants also deemed it necessary to update or further regulate the provisions of Staatsblad 1927 Number 156 to provide more comprehensive explanations regarding Christian church legal entities, at least through regulations at the level of the Minister of Religious Affairs. Additionally, Kemenag is committed to providing special recommendations for church legal entities as religious legal entities that can hold land ownership rights. In the long term, the meeting also emphasised the importance of building a digital church database, both for Christian and Catholic churches, by Kemenag as an initial step for data integration with ATR/BPN’s Computerisation of Land Activities application to facilitate public service access for church legal entities. Through this agreement, the coordination meeting is expected to serve as a concrete step in strengthening legal certainty over the ownership of places of worship while accelerating land administration services for religious legal entities.