Transmigration Ministry Transformation Tackles Land Conflicts

Minister of Transmigration M. Iftitah Sulaiman Suryanagara has revealed the government’s strategy to promote the transmigration programme as a means of population redistribution, reducing population density, and building new centres of economic growth in Indonesia. Indonesia’s transmigration programme has been running since the era of President Soekarno in the 1970s and has continued to evolve. However, the programme still faces challenges related to supporting facilities and infrastructure, as well as economic resources to improve the welfare of transmigrant communities and ensure equitable development. Under the administration of President Prabowo, the Ministry of Transmigration is undertaking a number of transformations of the national transmigration programme through the arrangement of transmigrant land, including granting freehold titles (SHM) to avoid land conflicts and assisting transmigrants in opening up business land. Furthermore, the Ministry continues to push for the optimisation of transmigration land, including in East Kalimantan, South Kalimantan, Aceh, and Sulawesi, where transmigration areas contain oil, gas, and coal deposits that could become new economic resources for the community. One of the economic growth sectors for transmigration communities is tourism, as seen in Raja Ampat, West Papua, and West Manggarai.