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