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and status uncertainties have delayed a number of major investment projects in several provinces in the country.

East Kalimantan Governor Awang Farouk Ishak said in Jakarta that a number of infrastructure and mining projects, including the construction of a toll road worth Rp 2 trillion (US$205 million) had been delayed due to uncertainties related to land status.

He said that the uncertainty was a result of a delay in the approval of the provincial spatial planning proposal submitted by the province to the central government. The approval of the spatial planning proposal took a long time because some parts of the land mentioned in the proposal were located in forest conservation areas, he added.

“We want a win-win solution. We understand that forest conservation is important, but the economy should also grow,” he said during a seminar on the implementation of the new law on national spatial planning (RTRWN).

Several other top senior officials of provincial governments including Riau island governor Muhammad Sani and North Sulawesi governor Sinyo Harry Sarundajang also took part in the seminar.

According to the new law, local governments have the right to determine spatial planning in their respective provinces or regencies. However, the proposed spatial planning should win the approval of the ministry of public work, upon recommendations from related government agencies including the Forestry Ministry and Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry.

“There are at least 14 major investors interested in opening major infrastructure projects in the project but none have confirmed yet due to the uncertainty surrounding the land status,” Awang said in the seminar. The investors wanted to wait until the land status was clear to start their investment projects in the province.

Meanwhile, Muhammad Sani, the governor of the Riau islands, said at the same event that like in East
Kalimantan, many large projects in his province had also been delayed due to land status uncertainties.

“Investment projects worth about Rp 10 trillion (US$ 1,028 million) have been delayed because our spatial planning proposal has not been approved,” Sani said, adding that the public work ministry was still unable to approve the spatial planning due to problems related to forest conservation areas.

Speaking at the same event, Public Works Minister Djoko Kirmanto said at least 24 provinces had so far submitted their spatial planning proposals, of which 14 had been approved while the rest were under review.

“North Sulawesi will be the 15th province to have regional spatial planning based on the new law on spatial planning. I believe that all provinces will have their own regional spatial planning by the end of this year,” he added. (koi)