The problem with land

The problem with land

The land problem in this country could become a social time
bomb if it is not handled with care. Many experts here agree, and
Minister of Agrarian Affairs/Chairman of the National Land Agency
Soni Harsono has warned the public about the complexity of land
issues. The problem, another official has said, is no less
explosive than the sensitive issues of tribal affiliations,
religion, race and societal groups. Such a conclusion is not far
from correct.

At present, many authorities consider these sensitive issues
perilous to this country. This is due to the fact that it is felt
the widening social gap has its roots in racial differences and
that religion is still a highly sensitive matter. For centuries
elders warned their offspring of the danger of tigers, despite
the fact that tigers were far away in the jungle and may not have
killed any humans in the span of, say, a decade. On the other
hand mosquitoes, which daily bite people and have claimed many
lives by spreading disease, such as malaria and dengue, were
never mentioned.

There have been many land disputes which were solved only
after the authorities and the people became embroiled in bloody
clashes. Why has this happened? Dr. A.P. Parlindungan, an expert
on agrarian law from North Sumatra, writes elsewhere on this page
that most land-related cases reflected a poor understanding of
the law, especially among the authorities. A national conference
on law last year supported his conclusion.

Parlindungan doubts that all officials in charge of land
problems fully understand the agrarian law and other regulations
on this matter. This ignorance has bred many failures in the
government's efforts to solve land disputes. And many authorities
put their even more ignorant subordinates in charge of solving
the problem.

This kind of problem has occurred in many corners of this
sprawling archipelago. The most serious conflicts occurred in
Kedung Ombo, Central Java, and on the island of Madura. In
Jakarta, the seat of the central government, land conflicts are
as old as the capital city's history and are among the most
serious headaches for municipal authorities.

In Jakarta, where a serious land conflict which ended in the
demolition of people's houses took place this week, the problem
stems mostly from the illegal occupation of government land by
squatters. Many of them built and lived in the shanties on
government land for decades before the authorities came to drive
them away and demolish their homes.

Do the authorities have the right to evict them when they were
never told they were violating the law? They even had permission
from local authorities to stay there. Many of them were issued
identity cards and asked to pay land taxes every year. A legal
expert has said that when one lets a person occupy his land for
such a long period without complaint, the occupier can claim the
land as his own.

What the authorities have done so far to supposedly ensure
peaceful eviction is to pay squatters compensation. But the
essence of the problem remains. The shanty towns are still
growing in number because the city authorities have not been
effective in their efforts. They are reluctant to remove
squatters when they initially illegally occupy government land.

This is also the case with the state-owned railway company
which doesn't lift a finger when it sees its train tracks lined
with shanties. Poor families have lived along railroads for as
many as five decades and will be allowed to stay there for
perhaps another decade until the land is needed for some project.

What the government needs to bear in mind is that today the
situation is quite different from what it was before. People are
now more sensitive towards social injustices, social disparities
and corrupt practices in the bureaucracy.

The demolition of shanties can spark riots or anti-government
demonstrations which, if they get out of control, could ruin our
most prided national stability.