NATIONAL LAND AGENCY AND MINISTRY FOR ACCELERATION OF DEVELOPMENT OF UNDERDEVELOPED REGIONS UTILIZE ABONDONED LAND FOR COMMUNITIES

In Indonesia, there are 183 underdeveloped regions. But, in fact, these regencies have many leading commodity potencies that are not yet developed optimally. Helmi Faishal Zaini, Minister for Acceleration of Development of Underdeveloped Regions, stated this matter.

The potency has not been utilized optimally is due to inadequate availability of land, unmanaged potency, lack of infrastructures in production centers, low quality and productivity of output, in optimality of market and capital access.

“In any underdeveloped regions that I visited, I always found abandoned land. Therefore, we cooperate with the National Land Agency to perform agrarian reform. Abandoned land in the regencies are returned to the communities”, he said.

Priority program of the Minister for Accelera­tion of Development of Underdeveloped Regions is District's Superior Product (Prukab) adopting Thailand’s One Village One Product concept. Each regen­cy is given freedom to determine its leading product, then there is a stimulant fund from the Ministry for Acceleration of Development of Underdeveloped Regions for development of the region concerned.

Ministry for Acceleration of Development of Underdeveloped Regions also coordinates with other ministries in building infrastructures, capital access, and marketing access. “Prukab starts from Bangka. “We provide the local community with capital to plant vegetables on 1 hectare of former tin mining reclamation land for each household head. Those who formerly did not have income, now earn income of Rp 2 million/household head”, he said.

Through coordination with the National Land Agency, it is expected that every year in each regency there is 1,000 hectare of abandoned land returned to the community. “The regency shall report to us about the location of the abandoned land. Then, the Notional Lend Agency will arrange the administrative and legal processes of the land concerned. After that, community may choose whether it will be in the form of pinjam pakai (borrow and use) or any other form. The important thing is that the community will have access to land”. Helmi said.

After it is achiever the following program is to increase community capacity and increase of harvest quality. “Many leading commodities originate from underdeveloped regions. A largest part of Indonesia’s coffee and cacao is produced in under­developed regions. If the raw material is good, we will attempt so that the product could go to further downstream processes”, he said.

Head of National Lend Agency, Hendarman Soepanji, said that National Lend Agency cooperates with the Ministry for Acceleration of Development of Underdeveloped Regions for the provision of state land, which is formerly abandoned land, to be utilized by communities. The National Land Agency has the responsibility to provide land and to perform land cer­tification.

Yuswanda Tumenggung, Deputy for Land Administration and Arrangement of the National Land Agency, said that total size of abandoned land identified is 7.2 million hectare. Most of them are former HGU (Cultivation Right) owned by large plantation firms, and some of them are shrimp ponds. There is also land whose location permit is unused.

After a detailed identification, estimated to­tal of abandoned land that can be used is 4.2 mil­lion hectare. “The problem is that to discipline use of abandoned land is not easy as they are spread­ing everywhere”, he said. The disciplining process is also not easy because even though it has been stated clearly by the Law, abandoned land can be taken over by the state, but the administrative process is not easy.

After giving 3 times reminders, there are tens of HGU and location permits taken over by the National Land Agency. Around 50% of HGU own­ers filed lawsuit to the court, and the National Lend Agency loses in almost 50% of the cases. After the land is distributed, it must be clear who obtains the ownership right. “'We should prevent a case like core plasma oil palm plantation. In this case, what hap­pened is not lend distribution, but land reconcentra­tion because the plasma plantation is sold and owned by 1 or 2 parsons”, he said.

Business News - November 21, 2012