The House of Representatives is urging the government to prioritize a public use land procurement bill to accelerate its land reform program.
Deputy chief of House Commission II overseeing home affairs Ganjar Pranowo said Wednesday that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has failed to make good a promise made during the 2004 election to redistribute one million hectares of land to farmers in the first five years of his presidency as part of a land reform program.
The President launched such a program in 2007.
“Last week’s land redistribution was the only one he has done so far,” Ganjar said, referring to Yudhoyono’s recent symbolic transfer of 260 hectares of land to more than 5,000 farmers in Cilacap, Central Java.
The hand over ceremony was timed to coincide with National Agrarian Day and the 50th anniversary of the of the 1960 Land Law.
National Land Agency (BPN) chairman Joyo Winoto said during the ceremony the land reform program would redistribute 142,159 hectares of land in 2010.
The land, scattered over 389 villages in 21 provinces, was originally the subject of disputes mediated by the BPN between local communities and the holders of business operation permits, he said.
According to Ganjar, a senior politician from the opposition Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), the House was irked by the slow implementation of land reform and placed some of the blame on the BPN.
“The BPN has not done its job well enough. It’s too centralized, not transparent and works very slowly. It’s also unclear what their eventual destination is,” he told The Jakarta Post.
“We’ve demanded reform within the BPN, directed them to be more focused on their programs and have asked the government to quickly complete the bill on the procurement of land for public needs.”
Ganjar added the House had initially wanted to draft its own version of the bill, but later let the government take over the task. The bill was almost complete and the House hoped to start deliberations by the end of the year, he said.
The bill was expected to detail technical regulations to implement the 50 year-old land law, which the government and the House previously agreed not to revise, he said.
BPN head Joyo could not be reach-ed for comment on the bill’s specifics.
Agrarian expert H.C. Gunarwan Wiradi recently told the Post that the failure of the government’s land reform program could be attributed to creation of “prerequisites” for reform, including strong political will, a better understanding of agrarian issues, a solid national farmers’ organization and national agrarian data.
Gunarwan added that land reform was not merely about redistributing land, but also about altering structural ownership and the use of land and land holdings.
