Revival of land courts called for

JAKARTA (JP): A law expert is calling for the return of land courts in Indonesia to solve the soaring number of potentially explosive land conflicts around the archipelago.

Noer Fauzi Rachman, the chairman of the Consortium for Agrarian Renewal, said at a public discussion on Saturday that Indonesia needs a mechanism to ensure that land conflicts are settled in a "just and civilized" manner.

"We hereby propose the establishment of special courts that are separate from the district or religious courts," Fauzi said, recalling the land reform courts that were abolished in 1970.

He warned that any further delay in resolving the mounting number of land conflicts could result in a national "time bomb".

Another speaker, Herman Soesangobeng of the Indonesian Land Administration Project, a private consultancy agency, noted that many people resort to taking their land problems to the House of Representatives and the National Commission on Human Rights because there are no formal institutions to address their grievances.

Fauzie proposed the establishment of an independent House commission for land issues and the protection of land rights.

He noted that the majority of residents involved in land disputes are not properly compensated for their land, which they are forced to give up to make way for such government and private projects as mines, plantations, industrial parks, factories, housing complexes and infrastructure projects.

Pieter J. Evers, a World Bank staffer residing in Indonesia who spoke at the seminar in a private capacity, underlined the importance of an effective land registration system given that such documents are becoming crucial in settling land conflicts.

"I wish the process of land registration could be more transparent so that the public will know better about it," Evers said, noting that the land certification process in Indonesia is still too costly for most poor people.

Of the country's various land laws, the most important is the 1960 Agrarian Law, which states that the government can appropriate land plots through a presidential decree provided that the area is needed for projects beneficial to the public at large. (31)