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Govt to redistribute 9 million hectares of land
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Communal irrigation: Several farmers tend to paddy fields under the communal farming and irrigation system called subak in Jatiluwih, Tabanan, Bali. The government plans to redistribute 9 million hectares of land to smallholders. (JP/Agung Parameswara) (JP/Agung Parameswara )
As part of its agrarian reform agenda, the government plans to redistribute 9 million hectares (ha) of land to smallholders.
The move aims to reduce the wide gap in land ownership at present, presidential chief of staff Teten Masduki said.
“The president wants to execute the land redistribution [plan] starting this year,” Teten said on Friday as quoted by kompas.com.
Of the total 26.14 million farmer households in Indonesia, 56.12 percent are landless peasants or those owning a piece of land of less than 0.3 ha.
(Read also: Ministry seeks to accelerate land certification)
The Environment and Forestry Ministry’s director general of forestry planology and environmental design San Safri Awang said the redistribution of land would be carried out gradually nationwide with the biggest contributions expected from Central Kalimantan and Riau province.
Of the total 9 million ha, 4.1 million ha will derive from forest areas, while the rest will come from areas managed by the Agrarian and Spatial Planning Ministry.
As the government hoped the agrarian reform could bring significant economic impact to the people, it also took into account specific regional potentials, such as cocoa in Sulawesi islands, rubber in South Sumatra and oil palm in Riau, San Afri added.
“We suggested the transfer of ownership to be oriented toward communities instead of individuals. But we are still in talks,” he said. (lnd)
