President Jokowi Distributes Waqf Land Certificates in Ngawi

President Jokowi distributes 253 waqf land certificates at Baiturrahman Mosque, Ngawi, East Java, Friday (1/2). (Photo by: Rahmat/Public Relations).

President Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo, on Friday (1/2), distributed 253 waqf land certificates in Ngawi, East Java. This amount is part of 7,700 certificates distributed by the Government in East Java Province.

In his remarks, the President said that the distribution of the certificates is carried out in order to avoid more land disputes.

“In Jakarta, there is a large mosque in a strategic area. At first, there was no problem; but once the price of the land on which the mosque is located rose to Rp120 million per meter, there was a dispute over the land rights,” President Jokowi said.

Should this kind of problem occur, the President continued, the ownership can only be proven by a land certificate. Therefore, he already ordered Minister of Agrarian and Spatial Planning/Head of the National Land Agency (BPN) to accelerate the issuance of the certificates.

Furthermore, the Head of State said that in 2017, the Government had distributed 5.1 million certificates after previously only able to issue 500 thousand certificates per year.

“In 2018, 9.4 million land certificates had been distributed,” the President said, adding that this year’s target is 10 million and he also expressed his optimism that the target will be achieved.

At the end of his remarks, President Jokowi reminded the importance of maintaining ethnicities, language and religious diversity in Indonesia. The President also stressed the importance of maintaining unity and brotherhood during election period. Different political choices in elections must not destroy the country’s unity. “Let’s maintain our harmony and unity,” the President said.

Also accompanying the President on the occasion were Minister of Agrarian and Spatial Planning/Head of the National Land Agency (BPN) Sofyan Djalil, Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung, and East Java Governor Soekarwo. (EN/RAH/ES)

Translated by: Galuh Wicaksono
Edited by: Mia Medyana