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Govt to revoke concessions of firms involved in land disputes
President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has warned that the government may revoke land concessions under the control of companies and state-owned enterprises (SOEs) should they refuse to grant land to residents living in the areas before the concessions were granted
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span>President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has warned that the government may revoke land concessions under the control of companies and state-owned enterprises (SOEs) should they refuse to grant land to residents living in the areas before the concessions were granted.
The warning came as the government carries out a program to redistribute land back to locals following years of disputes between them and companies that had been granted concessions.
In a Cabinet meeting on Friday, Jokowi told his aides to accelerate efforts to settle agrarian conflicts involving households versus companies or government institutions, which occur in regions across the country.
Jokowi called for the owners of land concessions to give ownership rights to local people who have lived in the respective areas years before the concessions were given by the state.
“I have made the order to revoke the concessions if [the owners] are stubborn. We have to be firm,” the President told his ministers.
“The sense of justice and legal certainty must be prioritized because clearly the [villagers] have lived in the areas for so long and they should not lose out to the concessions, which were granted only recently.”
The National Land Agency (BPN) recorded 8,959 land disputes throughout the country, 27 percent of which involved local residents versus the government or Indonesian Military (TNI), while 15 percent were between individuals and SOEs, private companies and other entities.
One of the conflicts highlighted during the meeting was a land dispute between the residents of Senama Nenek village and state plantation firm PTPN V in Kampar Regency, Riau, over a 2,800-hectare plot of land where the company manages oil palm plantations.
The villagers claimed ownership over the land, which had been part of the PTPN V concession granted by the Environment and Forestry Ministry more than two decades ago.
SOEs Minister Rini Soemarno said the 2,800 ha would be returned to the residents, however, the process needed to go through the Environment and Forestry Ministry, which would collaborate with the BPN to redistribute the land. “The list of recipients [of land] must be confirmed by the mayor and governor first […] after which the land certificates can be issued,” Rini said.
Agrarian and Spatial Planning Minister Sofyan Djalil, who leads the BPN, said the government would prioritize agrarian conflicts that involved villages located within a land concession as well as villages within forest areas.
The minister, however, admitted that there should be a breakthrough to settle land disputes because Law No. 17/2003 on state finances stipulated that state-owned assets cannot be taken over, although the court might rule in favor of the people.
