T

he government will soon launch the so-called “One Map Policy” to resolve prolonged overlapping land use problems, which often cause social and economic conflicts in many parts of the country.

With the One Map Policy, spatial information and their statuses such as mining, plantation and forest conservation areas, if overlapped, can be tracked easily.

The deputy assistant for spatial planning and strategic economic zone affairs at the Office of the Coordinating Economic Minister, Dodi Slamet Riyadi, said in Jakarta recently that the One Map Policy would officially be launched next month in a ceremony that was expected to be attended by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo. The launch of the single-map program is a year ahead of the initial schedule of 2019.

With an integrated map, the government will have an effective tool to identify overlapping areas, he said, adding that his office would use East Kalimantan for the pilot project of the program.

He said overlapping areas that were found during a “synchronization” stage would be evaluated in terms of border area, land status, ownership and permits on their use.

“[The synchronization stage] is a means of screening the overlapping permits by mapping out the spatial land use map and license map,” he said, adding that the outcome of synchronization would be recommendations that would be submitted to the President.

The One Map Policy is a program to compile a single Earth map at 1:50,000 scale, with a total of 85 thematic maps of regions across the archipelago. The integrated map will be uploaded onto a publicly accessible website. However, certain thematic maps will be restricted, particularly those that show potential local resources and private ownership.

“The accessible categories will be determined through a presidential decree before the portal site’s launching,” Dodi said.

The idea of an integrated map was stipulated in Law No. 4/2011 on geospatial information. In 2016, the government decided to speed up the process by issuing Presidential Regulation No. 9/2016 on acceleration of the implementation of the One Map Policy.

Mapping center and thematic integration head at the Geospatial Information Agency, Lien Rosalina, said during the same occasion that the compiling and integrating progress of the maps had reached 87 percent as of mid-July.

She added that the agency was in the process of developing a grand design of a single-map policy for the period of 2020 to 2036 to ensure the sustainability of the existing single map. She hinted it would include more thematic maps related to maritime affairs and the underground environment.

Meanwhile, the executive director of regional autonomy watch, Robert Na Endi Jaweng, lauded the government’s initiative to use the One Map Policy to help resolve overlapping permits, which had been found in many regions across the nation.

However, he said, many challenges had to be tackled in order to achieve the purpose of policy. The synchronization should have started at the ministerial level, particularly ministries related to mining, forestry and plantation areas, as those sectors frequently saw overlapping land use, he said.

He said the local administrations should also continue to develop as well as update their own thematic maps, especially the regional detailed spatial plans as required by the government, despite the introduction of the single map.

To date, only 41 regions have developed their own regional detailed spatial plans, Robert said, adding that he hoped the central government would be more proactive in encouraging the local administrations and considered a punishment, if necessary, for those who did not comply. (sau)