'Update land title processing system'

'Update land title processing system'

JAKARTA (JP): A property analyst underlined yesterday the
importance of periodically changing the system for processing
land titles to eradicate forgeries in Greater Jakarta.

Panangian Simanungkalit said that periodic changes in the
system, especially in the use of stamps, was badly needed because
the current system had not been changed for many years, thereby
enabling culprits to easily exploit its loopholes.

Panangian, who is also chairman of the Center for Indonesian
Property Studies, made the remarks in response to State Minister
of Agrarian Affairs Soni Harsono's statement on the high number
of land title forgeries in Greater Jakarta.

The problem was caused partly by the weakness of the agrarian
offices and the municipalities, Panangian told The Jakarta Post.

The fact that many officials are easily bribed makes the
problem more complicated, he said. "It's a very embarrassing
situation," he said.

"The culprits involved in the forgeries should be given severe
punishments to deter others from doing the same," he said.

He said that if they went unchecked, such practices would
discourage foreign investors.

Councilor Lukman F. Mokoginta of the Indonesian Democratic
Party urged the municipality yesterday to make an inventory of
land certificates to help stop the increases in land title
forgeries.

"The inventory should be made not only of privately owned
land, but also of the city owned land," Lukman, a member of the
council's Commission D for development affairs, told the Post.

"The inventory would help reduce the large amount of neglected
land and prevent land conflicts," Lukman said.

According to official data, there are more than 33,000
hectares of neglected land in Greater Jakarta. Much of it, in
addition to other land, is occupied by illegal migrants, Lukman
said.

He called for those convicted of forging title deeds to be
given heavy punishments.

"Officials who are involved in forging titles should be given
severe punishments because they not only hurt people, but also
the municipality and even the government."

The forgeries, he said, not only disadvantaged people who
thought their land documents had a legitimate legal basis, but
also banks.

"People, who forge land titles can use them to get loans from
banks. Such a practice should be prevented."

He also urged people to be careful when buying land. "People
should check the certificates at agrarian offices."

The involvement of city administration officials in land title
forgeries, he said, was due to their easy access to the required
data or facilities.

Both the administrations and the agrarian offices should
cooperate in the inventory, by activating the land title program
funded in 1994 by the World Bank and the Australian government,
he said.

On Tuesday, the President ordered Soni Harsono to investigate
forgery cases in Bekasi, where 200 land title documents have been
falsified. (ste)