Plantation firms told to return disputed land
Plantation firms told to return disputed land
JAKARTA (JP): President Abdurrahman Wahid, popularly known as
Gus Dur, has instructed state owned plantation companies to
return some 40 percent of land taken by force or bought at unfair
prices from local people in the past.
Gus Dur said in a statement distributed following a late
Monday cabinet meeting on the economy, that the plantation firms
could return the land physically or provide shares to the
affected people.
According to the statement, the President stressed that this
policy only applies to land which involves legal problems.
The statement said that the new government was aware that some
of the land owned by state-owned companies or private companies
had been seized unfairly from the people and had caused problems
in the past.
It's no secret that many state enterprises and politically
well-connected conglomerates had used force and intimidation to
acquire land from people at prices far below market value during
the previous authoritarian government of Soeharto.
The statement also said that Gus Dur supported efforts by the
Minister of Mines and Energy Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to
"legalize" the illegal mining activities which were mostly
conducted by traditional miners.
"This will help avoid conflict between the people's mining and
huge scale mining," the statement said.
Gus Dur has also agreed to demands from the West Sumatran
people to spin off PT Semen Padang from the state-owned cement
maker PT Semen Gresik on grounds that the former was built on
heritage land.
The statement said that Gus Dur had ordered State Minister for
Investments and State Enterprises Development Rozy Munir to make
a valuation of Semen Padang's price to be used as a basis for
negotiation with Mexico's cement maker Cemex SA de CV.
Semen Gresik owns up to 46 percent shares in Semen Padang.
Cemex has a 25 percent stake in the publicly listed Semen
Gresik. The company has plans to increase its Semen Gresik stake
to around 40 percent.
The government had to drop plans to sell a majority stake to
Cemex in 1998 following widespread protests from the West
Sumatran people.
The President has also ordered the Coordinating Minister for
Economy, Finance and Industry Kwik Kian Gie to study the "Blue
Sky" project designed by the Ministry of Mines of Energy to help
significantly reduce the lead content in fuel products.
Gus Dur said that Kwik must also decide the source of
financing and its mechanism for the project.
The cabinet meeting also concluded that the lending procedure
for export oriented industries must be eased down in a bid to
help recover the country's embattled real sector.
In an effort to boost the country's exports, Gus Dur has
instructed Kwik and Finance Minister Bambang Sudibyo to
coordinate with Bank Indonesia and the Indonesian Bank
Restructuring Agency (IBRA) to seek ways to take advantage of
some Rp 700 trillion worth of excess liquidity in the banking
sector to help finance the export industries.(rei/byg)
JAKARTA (JP): President Abdurrahman Wahid, popularly known as
Gus Dur, has instructed state owned plantation companies to
return some 40 percent of land taken by force or bought at unfair
prices from local people in the past.
Gus Dur said in a statement distributed following a late
Monday cabinet meeting on the economy, that the plantation firms
could return the land physically or provide shares to the
affected people.
According to the statement, the President stressed that this
policy only applies to land which involves legal problems.
The statement said that the new government was aware that some
of the land owned by state-owned companies or private companies
had been seized unfairly from the people and had caused problems
in the past.
It's no secret that many state enterprises and politically
well-connected conglomerates had used force and intimidation to
acquire land from people at prices far below market value during
the previous authoritarian government of Soeharto.
The statement also said that Gus Dur supported efforts by the
Minister of Mines and Energy Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to
"legalize" the illegal mining activities which were mostly
conducted by traditional miners.
"This will help avoid conflict between the people's mining and
huge scale mining," the statement said.
Gus Dur has also agreed to demands from the West Sumatran
people to spin off PT Semen Padang from the state-owned cement
maker PT Semen Gresik on grounds that the former was built on
heritage land.
The statement said that Gus Dur had ordered State Minister for
Investments and State Enterprises Development Rozy Munir to make
a valuation of Semen Padang's price to be used as a basis for
negotiation with Mexico's cement maker Cemex SA de CV.
Semen Gresik owns up to 46 percent shares in Semen Padang.
Cemex has a 25 percent stake in the publicly listed Semen
Gresik. The company has plans to increase its Semen Gresik stake
to around 40 percent.
The government had to drop plans to sell a majority stake to
Cemex in 1998 following widespread protests from the West
Sumatran people.
The President has also ordered the Coordinating Minister for
Economy, Finance and Industry Kwik Kian Gie to study the "Blue
Sky" project designed by the Ministry of Mines of Energy to help
significantly reduce the lead content in fuel products.
Gus Dur said that Kwik must also decide the source of
financing and its mechanism for the project.
The cabinet meeting also concluded that the lending procedure
for export oriented industries must be eased down in a bid to
help recover the country's embattled real sector.
In an effort to boost the country's exports, Gus Dur has
instructed Kwik and Finance Minister Bambang Sudibyo to
coordinate with Bank Indonesia and the Indonesian Bank
Restructuring Agency (IBRA) to seek ways to take advantage of
some Rp 700 trillion worth of excess liquidity in the banking
sector to help finance the export industries.(rei/byg)