Revival of land courts called for
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)