Government drafting land clearance bill

Aditya Suharmoko ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Fri, 11/06/2009 4:23 PM  |  Business

The government is drafting a bill on land acquisition to address problems revolving around land clearance needed to bolster infrastructure projects, Coordinating Economic Minister Hatta Rajasa said Friday.

"We are preparing the bill [on land acquisition]. Within 100 days [of the new administration] it must be finished and submitted to the House of Representatives.

”Despite several stakeholders suggesting issuance of a regulation-in-lieu-of-law on land acquisition, Hatta said the government considered a bill a better choice.

Bambang Susantono, deputy to the coordinating economic minister in charge of infrastructure, said the bill would allow the government to clear land for "public interests", while providing decent compensation to the land owners.

"There will be a meeting with stakeholders [to discuss the bill]. The point is, their right [to the land] may be retracted, but the compensation must be fair," he said.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono signed a government regulation on land acquisition for development of public facilities in 2005 in a bid to fight speculative land brokers.

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