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Jokowi urged to realize land redistribution program for Lombok farmers
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Fight for your right -- Activists, students and farmer representatives call on the government to realize its land reform program in a rally in Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara, on Monday. (JP/Panca Nugraha)
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t least 100 activists, students and farmer representatives grouped under the West Nusa Tenggara’s People’s Defender Front (FPR) staged a rally in commemoration of National Farmers Day in front of the province’s governor office in Mataram on Monday.
They urged the government to implement its land redistribution program for farmers, including those who live in Lombok.
“They are calling on the governor [NTB Governor M.Zainul Majdi] to urge President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo to immediately realize its land redistribution program for farmers,” said Marzuki, the rally’s orator who is also the chairman of the Land Reform Movement Alliance (AGRA) NTB.
He said the government’s land reform program comprised not only land redistribution but also legalization programs, in which it targeted to certify 9 million hectares of land for farmers.
They included 0.6 million ha of non-certified transmigration land, 3.4 million ha of land assets belonging to the Agrarian National Operation Project (Prona), 0.4 million ha of land with cultivation permits (HGU), which are abandoned and have expired permits, and 4.1 million ha of forest areas released.
“The land redistribution program must be able to touch farmers in Lombok because land ownership has become a serious problem affecting the sustainable livelihood of our farmers,” said Marzuki.
He said AGRA NTB recorded at least 16,000 ha of the province’s land was now controlled by the tourist sector, while 889,000 ha belonged to the forestry sector. Meanwhile, national parks controlled 105,000 ha of land while 114,000 ha were owned by plantation companies.
With such figures, NTB farmers owned only around 0.3 – 0.5 ha of land per person on average, Marzuki further said. (ebf)
