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Government has right to revoke land ownership: Minister
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Coordinating Economic Minister Darmin Nasution and Agrarian and Spatial Planning Minister Sofyan Djalil talk after attending a limited Cabinet meeting at the Presidential Office in Jakarta on Feb. 16. (Antara/Wahyu Putro A)
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fter failing to impose progressive taxes on idle land, the government is looking for another way to push land owners to make better use of their properties.
Agrarian and Spatial Planning Minister Sofyan Jalil claims that the government has the right to revoke land ownership if land is not being used productively, or if plots of land have lost their social function.
The Agrarian and Spatial Planning Ministry is now in the process of finalizing a regulation on the land bank, whose function is to, among other things, redevelop plots of idle land that have already been taken over by the state.
“Idle land can be used for housing [low-income families]. Part of the objective is to prevent people from exploiting too much out of land because land is not a commodity,” Sofyan said as reported by kontan.co.id.
(Read also: Indonesia pushes local governments to boost land reform program)
Property investment is a good business because land prices grow about 17 percent annually, said the minister, adding that government policy was needed to prevent people from engaging in excessive land speculation. (bbn)
