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Land distribution 'unfair' to the underprivileged
The land-distribution system in Jakarta, as well as in other Indonesian cities, which is based on price rather than social benefits is unfair to the poor and therefore violates the Constitution, experts told a recent discussion
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T
he land-distribution system in Jakarta, as well as in other Indonesian cities, which is based on price rather than social benefits is unfair to the poor and therefore violates the Constitution, experts told a recent discussion.
Jo Santoso, urban planner and head of the Planology Master Study Program at Tarumanagara University, said the system violated a principle in the Constitution, which favors social benefit over private ownership as well as the Agrarian Law, which stipulates that land distribution be made in the spirit of social benefit.
'Land being distributed to those who can pay the highest price is the only land-distribution system we have. This is against our Constitution,' Jo said recently in a seminar in Central Jakarta.
Article 6 of the Agrarian Law, No. 5/1960, stipulates that all land ownership should have a social benefit.
He said the current system required the government to pay a higher price in order to control land before it could build public facilities, such as roads, schools and hospitals.
'And if a private developer wants to get the land by paying an even higher price than the government can offer, the government will not be able to build the facilities,' he explained. 'How can the social benefit principle [in the Agrarian Law] be implemented if we are still using such a system?' he said.
Suparjo Sujadi, legal expert at the University of Indonesia, said local governments, such as the Jakarta administration, should translate the social benefit principle in the Agrarian Law into bylaws to be effectively enforced.
During the seminar, Jo encouraged the participants ' students, social activists, and scholars ' to file a petition challenging the land-distribution system at the Constitutional Court.
According to him, the principle of social benefit in land distribution should be enforced to make Jakarta a better human settlement.
He said that if the Jakarta administration was committed to making the city a better human settlement, evictions, such as the recent evictions of residents of Kebon Melati in Central Jakarta and Kampung Pulo in East Jakarta, would not have taken place. 'Evictions are a process of destroying a city as a human settlement,' he said.
Kampung Pulo and Kebon Melati were two low-income kampungs built on the banks of the Melati Reservoir and Ciliwung River, respectively.
The city administration said it had demolished hundreds of buildings on the banks of the reservoir and the river because they were built illegally and obstructed the flow of water.
The administration said the evictions were carried out to safeguard city residents affected by floods every year. The administration has refused to provide compensation to the residents, accusing them of being squatters.
Law No. 2/2012 and Government Regulation No. 71/2012 on land procurement for public purposes stipulate that residents occupying state land with good intentions are among 'rightful stakeholders' entitled to 'fair and adequate' compensation.
Urban-poor activist Sandyawan Sumardi said in the discussion that the administration should involve residents before implementing any policy, such as evictions. 'Ideally, the creation of urban spaces should involve three elements: communities, business people and the city administration,' he explained.
In his presentation, he suggested that the city administration learn from the experience of Porto Alegre, a city in Brazil, where residents were involved in the city management.
'Porto Alegre residents discuss their city's problems in various local and regional forums,' he said. (saf)
