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Ministry seeks to accelerate land certification
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Family land: A farmer looks at the condition of soil in his paddy field in Lhokseumawe, Aceh. The government plans to carry out certification of 9 million hectares of land for farmers nationwide.
(Antara/Rahmad)
T
he Environment and Forestry Ministry hopes to accelerate the land redistribution and legalization program amid protest from farmers and activists over the slow progress of the agenda.
The ministry’s secretary general, Bambang Hendroyono, said on Friday that the government would address the issue of land legalization, part of President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s agrarian reform program, at the 6th Forestry Congress held from Nov. 29 to Dec. 2 in Jakarta.
The program comprises, among other elements, the certification of 9 million hectares of land for farmers.
“The land [legalization] program is ongoing now. However, we can push for the acceleration by involving stakeholders, farmers, activists and analysts in the congress," Bambang said.
The participants of the congress will also discuss national forestry issues primarily in Sumatra, Sulawesi, Kalimantan and Papua.
The agrarian reform agenda was included in Jokowi’s multifaceted Nawacita development program, but some analysts say the program has not shown encouraging progress.
The government’s lack of will to make its commitments a reality during the last two years has sparked conflicts between farmers and corporates. In the first half of 2016, the Agrarian Reform Consortium (KPA), an NGO that campaigns for the creation of a fair agrarian system, recorded 270 agrarian conflicts across the country. (adt/hwa)
