Unregistered land owner to be punished
Unregistered land owner to be punished
JAKARTA (JP): The government, if required, will issue tougher
regulations on the obligation of the public to register their
land for certification, along with sanctions for those who fail
to obey them, a minister said.
"If a ministerial ruling is not enough; a presidential decree,
government regulation or even a law on the public's obligation to
register their lands, as well as sanctions for those who disobey
the ruling, will be made," Minister of Agrarian Affairs/Chairman
of the National Land Agency Soni Harsono said during his trip to
supervise a trial land administration project, sponsored by his
office in Depok, Antara reported yesterday.
The minister refused to explain further about the contents of
the new regulation, but suggested that the heaviest sanction for
delinquent land owners would be land confiscation.
The project, to systematically register public land in Depok,
is based on Ministerial Regulation Number 1/1995.
The Rp 295 billion (US$131.9 million) trial project, which has
been carried out since Feb. 21 and last for five years, is
designed to provide quick service for land certificate
applicants.
The minister was informed by his personnel that a large number
of the local people still refuse to register their property
without specific reasons.
Of the 1,399 plots of land listed in the area, only 272 plots,
or 19 percent, have been issued with certificates.
A total of 1,046 plots have been registered for certification
by their owners, while owners of the remaining 81 plots refuse to
register their properties at all.
"What's happening with the people who refuse to register their
land, because certified land has a higher value of sale if the
owner wants to sell it," the minister said.
The government's goodwill to help people obtain land
certificates, is in order to avoid, in the future, further losses
by land owners involved in land disputes, Soni said.
He said an applicant has to pay a maximum of Rp 25,000 during
the ongoing land administration project. The amount might be much
lower than processing it at the National Land Agency office, due
to brokers and disobedient officers at the agency. (bsr)