President Jokowi Launches Economic Equality and Agrarian Reform Policies

President Jokowi at the launching of Economic Equality and Agrarian Reform Policies at Boyolali Regency’s Public Sqare, Central Java Province, Friday (21/4) (Photo: BPMI)

President Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo launched Economic Equality and Agrarian Reform Policies at Boyolali Regency’s Public Square, Central Java Province, on Friday (21/4). On this occasion, the President handed over Land Certificates to a number of community representatives.

In his remarks, the President said that the Government realizes that the people are longing for social and economic justice in this country. Therefore, the Government continues to try to overcome the gap existing among regions in Indonesia.

“The Government always tries to make breakthroughs to manifest economic equality as well as to reduce economic gap between the riches and the underprivileged people,” the President firmly said while adding that this effort is part of the Government’s current efforts to overcome gap among regions.

Stands on Three Pillars

Regarding the newly-launched Economic Equality Policy, President Jokowi said that this policy stands on three pillars, i.e. land, opportunities, and human resources improvement.

Thus, the Government has handed over a number of land certificates to a number of people in various regions in Indonesia. In his working visit to Boyolali Regency, the President handed over 10,055 certificates to the people from cities/regencies in Central Java.

According to the President, the amount of the certificates will increase at the next stage. In 2017, there are 5 million certificates to be handed over. In 2018, the number will increase by 7 million and in 2019 it will be 9 million certificates.

“The Government has determined to carry out this program in all regions in Indonesia, not only in Boyolali, noting that in Indonesia only 46 million out of 126 million pieces of land that already have certificate,” the President said.

However, the President reminded all that this program does not give land for nothing. The given land should be used as a capital to carry out productive economic activities so that people’s welfare can be improved.

Therefore, this program prioritizes people who do not have or only have a small land, have low income, or living in disaster-prone areas, such as farmworkers, embankment farmers, planters, breeders,and unemployment.

Meanwhile, the target of agrarian reform will cover a nine-million-hectares area. “This area that will be given to the people. This is the rights of the people,” the President said.

The reform also covers 12.7 million hectares of social forestry, spanning from Sabang to Merauke. Nevertheless, the President wanted the land tobe productive and can be planted by any plants.

On this occasion, President Jokowi was accompanied by Coordinating Minister for the Economy Darmin Nasution, Minister of Agrarian and Spatial Planning/Head of National Land Agency Sofyan Djalil, Minister of Environment and Forestry Siti Nurbaya, Presidential Chief of Staff Teten Masduki, and Governor of Central Java Ganjar Pranowo. (BPMI Setpres/ES)(MMB/YM/Naster)