T

he government has, once again, postponed the issuance of a highly anticipated presidential regulation which will regulate the implementation of the Land Acquisition Law.

The failure to issue the regulation, initially planned for early March, means another delay on the implementation of a law which many see as a progressive instrument for developing the country’s infrastructure, which, hopefully, will ensure sustainable long-term economic growth.

Wahyu Utomo, in charge of the Master Plan for the Acceleration and Expansion of Indonesia’s Economic Development (MP3EI) at the Office of the Coordinating Economic Minister, said in Jakarta on Tuesday that the government intended to issue the regulation in early March, but could not do so because the draft regulation submitted by the National Land Agency (BPN) still needed further discussion.

“After we received the draft, we saw that there were still a lot of issues that needed to be further addressed because they did not match the stipulations contained within the law. We actually invited the BPN for another meeting last week, but due to a miscommunication, they did not come, so we have rescheduled the meeting to take place next week,” he added.

Wahyu said that one of the issues that needed to be addressed was on the authority of regional leaders.

“So, we need to know whether it is possible to give executive authority to the regional leaders if a dispute takes place. Other than that, there are still other major issues in the regulation draft that need to be settled and therefore, we need to meet with the BPN as soon as possible,” he said.

“We expect to settle the issues in the draft within three months. So, the public can expect to see the presidential regulation on the Land Acquisition Law to be officially issued in June,” he added.

Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI) economist Latif Adam told The Jakarta Post that another delay on the regulation’s issuance could hinder investment in infrastructure projects.

“Investors saw good momentum when the law was endorsed and they expected it to be implemented as soon as possible. But this delay could cost us that good momentum and drive investors away,” he said.

— JP/Hans David Tampubolon