Soeharto did not get land illegally: Durin
JAKARTA (JP): State Minister of Land Affairs Hasan Basri Durin said on Thursday that his office has not found any violations in the way former president Soeharto acquired land in various areas, but acknowledged that the amount involved may cause "social envy."
Durin told reporters covering a discussion held by the Indonesian Society of Transparency (MTI) here that none of Soeharto's land was obtained in ways which contradicted the agrarian law.
However, the amount involved may disturb "people's sense of justice," he said.
He did not mention how much land is controlled by Soeharto or his family, but cited a number of examples, including 750 hectares of farmland in Tapos, West Java.
The land may have been obtained legally, he said, but for the tenant farmers displaced when the land was acquired, "it's not fair."
He conceded that one of the main difficulties in investigating the legality of Soeharto's land ownership was because many plots were obtained and are registered under company names.
Efforts to determine the true value of wealth allegedly amassed by Soeharto during his 32 years in power have so far been held back by technicalities such as proving land ownership.
The day-long discussion also featured agrarian law expert Maria S.W. Sumardjono from Yogyakarta's Gadjah Mada University, Mohamad S. Hidayat, a real estate industry executive, I Gusti M. Tantra from the forestry and plantations ministry, Thoriq Basalamah from the Indonesian Real Estate Association (REI) and law professor Koesnadi Hardjasoemantri.
During the discussion, Durin promised his office would issue a decree to set a maximum area to the amount of land that can fall under the control of private enterprises and business groups.
He said the planned decree would limit real estate companies to controlling a maximum of 400 hectares in a province and a total of 4,000 hectares countrywide. A resort and hotel developer will be allowed to control a maximum of 200 hectares in a province and a total 2,000 hectares nationwide.
He said the decree would set a maximum of 400 hectares in a province and a total of 4,000 hectares nationwide for an industrial zone developer; a maximum of 20,000 hectares, or a total of 100,000 hectares nationwide for a plantation company; and a maximum of 100 hectares in Java and 200 hectares in other provinces, or a total of 2,000 hectares nationwide for aquaculture enterprises such as prawn farms.
Sugar plantation companies will be allowed to control a maximum of 60,000 hectares in a province, or a total of 150,000 countrywide, he added.
He pointed out that companies were only granted land use rights and that the government technically retained the actual ownership.
Durin, a former governor of West Sumatra, also said the government had recently issued a regulation on the utilization of idle land.
Maria spoke about what she believed to be flaws in national land management regulations that had led to a proliferation of disputes. She cited cases where residents had invaded unused areas of land and laid claim to rights of use.
Coordinating Minister for Economy, Finance and Industry Ginandjar Kartasasmita recently revealed that many large plots of land under private company ownership are lying idle.
He said the plantation sector had been granted permits for 2.9 million hectares of land, of which only 470,433 hectares, or 16.2 percent, had been tilled.
On Thursday, Maria said Durin was just beginning to "taste how messy things have been" in national land management.
She said the main cause of trouble in land affairs was the imbalance of access to land ownership and control, with ordinary people frequently losing out to business interests.
"(So the new) land policy must allow people to obtain and utilize land as well as enable them to participate in the drafting of land use plans," Maria said.
Maria said the decree to be issued by the government should encourage fair and peaceful settlement of disputes. (aan)