Distribution of Land Certificates for the People, Tuesday, 5 January 2021 at the State Palace, Jakarta

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim.

Assalamu’alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh,

Good afternoon,

May peace be upon us all,

Om Swastiastu,

Namo Buddhaya,

Greetings of virtue.

Distinguished Minister of Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning/ Head of the National Land Agency,

Distinguished Presidential Chief of Staff,

Distinguished Governors, Regents, and Mayors joining this occasion virtually,

Distinguished Heads of National Land Agency Regional Offices at provinces, regencies, and municipalities,

Recipients of land certificates,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Today, I will distribute 584,407 land certificates for recipients in 26 provinces and 273 regencies/municipalities. Have you received the certificates? Please show me. Those joining this occasion through video conference, show them to the camera. Everyone has the certificates.

This event is part of the Government’s commitment in speeding up the issuance of land certificates for all people across the country. According to Minister of Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning, the Government has set a target to issue 11 million land certificates in 2020. Due to pandemic, the realization was 6.8 million certificates. Alhamdulillah, the total number of issued certificates was 6.8 million. Previously, in one year we were only able to issue 500,000 certificates. It was twelve times higher. I believe the target of 11 million certificates can be met in normal situation since we have met the target of five million, six million, seven million, and eight million of land certificates in the past three years. There are 126 million certificates that must be issued. In 2015, we had only issued 46 million certificates, so we still need 80 million more certificates. If we only issue 500,000 certificates a year, the certification takes 160 years to complete. Can you imagine?

Do you want to wait for 160 years? No one wants to do that. Everyone wants to obtain land certificate as soon as possible since it serves as evidence of legal ownership of land. We cannot issue 500,000 certificates a year anymore. In fact, the National Land Agency can achieve the ambitious target.

We were able to issue 5.4 million certificates in 2017, 9.3 million in 2018, 9 million in 2019, and 6.8 million in 2020. It indicates the target can be realized.

To that end, I asked the Minister, how long does it take to certify all parcels of land in Indonesia so that all people can have land certificates. He answered the certification will be completed by 2025.

Once again, a certificate is an evidence of legal ownership of land. Every time I go to the regions, people told me about land disputes and land issues. Some of the cases have moved to the court. Therefore, with land certificates, you obtain evidence of legal ownership of land.

I remind you to keep the certificates safe, and make a copy of it. Store the original in one place, and store the copy in other place so that when the original is lost, the copy can be used to process the replacement. In addition, I want to tell you that land certificate holders can use their certificates as collateral for bank loan and use the money to start business. In that regard, please calculate and assess your payment capacity if you want to apply for bank loan. If you cannot repay your loan, the bank will take your certificate. Please be careful.

On this auspicious occasion, allow me to express my highest appreciation to Ministry of Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning/ the National Land Agency, National Land Agency Regional Offices at provinces, regencies, and municipalities for their hard work to meet the target. As you can see in the slide show, they must visit remote areas to measure people’s land. They have worked hard since Indonesia is a vast country.

I also would like to inform that the Government has distributed COVID-19 vaccines to 34 provinces since two days ago. In the first phase, 700,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been distributed to the regions. Out of 3 million doses of vaccine available in the country, 700,000 doses have been distributed. The remaining doses will be distributed in the near future. In addition, 15 million doses of vaccine bulk supply will arrive in Indonesia which will be manufactured by Bio Farma upon its arrival next week. The finished products will also be distributed to the regions. As for vaccination, medical staff including doctors and nurses will be first in line. The second group in line is the Indonesian National Defense Forces (TNI) personnel and the Indonesian National Police (Polri) officers, teachers, and will be followed by the public.

We hope the vaccination program can curb and control COVID-19 cases. Nevertheless, I want you to remind yourself, relatives, neighbors, colleagues, and friends to remain vigilant and disciplined in implementing health protocols. Always wear face masks, wash hands, avoid crowds, and maintain a safe distance until the vaccination is completed. Vaccination around the world is estimated to take 3.5 years. Nevertheless, based on the calculation of Minister of Health, vaccination (in Indonesia) will be completed within 15 months, but I ordered him to finish it in less than a year. We must work hard to overcome the pandemic so that we can recover and resume our normal activities. We all share the same hopes.

I conclude this remarks on this auspicious occasion.

I thank you.

Wassalamu’alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh.

Om Santi Santi Santi Om.

Namo Buddhaya. (RAS/MMB)