President Jokowi Calls on Central, Regional Governments to Maintain Their Assets

President Jokowi chairs a limited meeting on the Acceleration of North Sumatra Land Issue Settlement, at the Presidential Office, Jakarta, Wednesday (11/30). (Photo by: Public Relations/Rahmat)

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo instructed all ministries/institutions,  the Indonesian National Defense Forces (TNI), Indonesian National Police (Polri), SOEs, and regional governments to bring order to the administration of governance and to maintain its assets so as not to create protracted land issues.

“Moreover, if it raises conflicts between citizens, between citizens and the Government, between citizens and SOEs. I instructed Minister of Agrarian and Spatial Planning (ATR) to draw up a scheme for the settlement of problematic or disputed land assets that will be used as guidelines by regional and central agencies throughout Indonesia,” President Jokowi said at the Acceleration of North Sumatra Land Issue Settlement, at the Presidential Office, Jakarta, Wednesday (11/30).

President Jokowi said that he has received a report from North Sumatra Governor that there are two land issues in the province in need of quick decisions.

“First is the former Cultivation Rights Title (HGU) of  PT Perkebunan Nusantara (PTPN) II. Second is the land dispute at Soewondo Air Base. This is the former Polonia airport in Medan,” the President said.

On the former PTPN II HGU, the President stated that land as wide as 5,873 hectares have been taken back from the PTPN II HGU and the current status is directly controlled by the state. As many as 3,104 hectares have obtained nullification permit from the Ministry of SOEs while the remaining hectares have not.

For this reason, the President wanted to focus on the acceleration of the settlement of the former PTPN HGU land. In line with this, the President asked Ministry of Agrarian and Spatial Planning (ATR)/National Land Agency (BPN) to issue a policy on freezing of land administration on the former HGU to avoid land speculation.

“So that the former PTPN II HGU land will be actually owned and could be utilized by the people, based on an existing nominative list or an inventory and re-verification by the North Sumatra provincial government,” he said.

On land disputes at Soewondo Airport Base, the President received a report that there were 591 hectares of land, 302 hectares of which have obtained certificates of land use right for the Air Force, while 260 hectares of land have not obtained certificates.

“On the 260 hectares of land, there are 5,036 families or 27,000 residents, including families or heirs working on a land area of ​​5.6 hectares that received a legal decision from the Supreme Court,” the President stated.

The President demanded a fair solution, meaning that all settlement options must be discussed properly. He asked that this matter needs to be decided immediately because it does not only concern the assets of the Air Force but also the 27,000 residents who currently occupy the land.

President Jokowi also stated that how the Government handles this issue will be an example for other cases.

“Specifically, on the abandon assets of ministries/institutions that have not been optimized, breakthrough measures need to be taken immediately so as to make the assets more productive,” he stated. (FID/SM/EN)

Translated by: Fairuzzamani Inayatillah
Reviewed by: Mia M. Bonaedy