'Regions' right to land use needed for autonomy'

'Regions' right to land use needed for autonomy'

Muhammad Nafik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The central government has been told to cancel its plan to
reclaim the right over land use in the regions as it would
violate the Autonomy Law.

Prominent Autonomy Law expert Ryaas Rasyid said the move would
further hinder the full implementation of Autonomy Law No.
22/1999 on regional administration implemented in January 2000.

"It hampers the acceleration of economic growth in the
regions. Without the full right to control land, the regions
cannot offer businesspeople anything for investment," he told The
Jakarta Post here on Friday.

Ryaas was commenting on Minister of Home Affairs Hari
Sabarno's statement that he would draft a new regulation to allow
the central government to reclaim the right over land use in the
regions despite the current regional autonomy.

Hari claimed that the step would be necessary to ensure the
effective use of land and to avoid its overexploitation.

Ryaas, the man behind the current Autonomy Law, said that even
without the proposed regulation, the central government had
already discouraged decentralization by issuing a presidential
decree in 2001 to delay the regions the right to control land
use.

Decree No. 10/2001 prohibits the regions from implementing
control over the land until the government issues new regulations
on land use based on Law No. 25/1999 on fiscal balance between
the central and local administrations.

"The presidential decree remains effective and it makes the
regions unable to run their administrations autonomously," Ryaas
said.

Secretary-general of the Ministry of Home Affairs Siti Nurbaya
echoed Hari's statement, saying that not all land usage should be
determined by local administrations but some should be under the
control of the central government.

"If we hand over the all rights to land usage to the regions
without intervention of the central government, it could cause
legal uncertainty.

"We should be careful as land is not only a state's physical
asset but also carries political values," she added.

However, Nurbaya denied that the regulation would revoke the
right of provinces and regencies to control land use as
stipulated in the Autonomy Law.

"We hope the regulation will take effect by 2003 after
consulting governors, regents and experts. It could be in the
form of a ministerial or government decree," she told the Post.

Nurbaya said the new ruling would reorganize the overall
authority over land use in order to stop numerous inconsistencies
between laws on immigration, forestry, mining, irrigation and
others.

The regulation, she added, would allow the central government
to oversee land use in connection with the country's macro
policies, including national spatial plans, administrative
system, standardization of certification and national strategies.

Nurbaya cited an example that if the determination of land
prices was not regulated nationally, it could create problems for
businesspeople wanting to invest in the regions.

Another example is that if a region wanted to create huge
industrial areas or real estate complexes on thousands of
hectares of land, it could cause new problems if such projects
were not coordinated with national spatial plans, she added.

The central government is attempting to revise the Autonomy
Law in an attempt to retain some control over the regions, but
the plan has met with strong opposition from governors, mayors
and regents as well legislative councils.