Settling land problems

Settling land problems

Land use for development and residential purposes are among
the reasons why productive land (for agriculture) is diminishing,
according to the Minister of Agrarian Affair/Head of the National
Land Agency (BPN) in a speech delivered recently in Yogyakarta.
For that reason, according to the minister, allocations for land
use must in the future be properly planned and managed.

We believe that the words spoken by the head of BPN reflects
the concern which is felt by all of us. During 1995, which is now
nearing its end, land problems were rampant in many places. And
the problems were almost always the same: the eviction of people
from their land and land disputes as well as changes in the
function of land.

The construction of industries, offices and residential
estates -- with residential estate development now no longer
being an exclusively urban phenomenon -- demonstrates the
increasing power of capital. Those various changes in land use
are very much determined by the influence of capital. The present
system of control over land may be said to be one of a monopsony.
Land owners hardly have any choice at all regarding whether or
not they want to sell their land. Land for which official
clearance permits have been issued must be sold to developers or
speculators.

It will be the difficult task of the National Land Agency in
the coming year to clear up such land disputes, whether they
involve individual citizens or individuals on one side and the
government on the other. Fragmentary solutions are no longer
adequate. It would appear to be worth the effort to adopt a new
line of thinking, such as the one based on the principle of
"development without displacement".

-- Republika, Jakarta