Introductory Remarks of President Joko Widodo at the Limited Meeting on Agrarian Reform and Social Forestry at the Presidential Office, Jakarta, on 22 March 2017
Unofficial English Translation
Good afternoon,
Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh,
May prosperity be upon us all,
In this limited meeting, we will further discuss agrarian reform and social forestry.
I would like to remind you about my statement at the previous limited meeting discussing the same topic that the spirit of agrarian reform is the realisation of equality in the concession, ownership, usage, and utilization of lands, areas, and natural resources.
Agrarian reform should also be a new way not only to resolve agrarian disputes between the people and companies or the people and the government, but also to alleviate poverty and socio-economic gap, particularly in villages. So, the people, particularly those in the lowest 40 percent of economic status, can have legal access to the land that provides livelihood and prosperity.
I have been reported that there are at least 9 (nine) million hectares of land that will be managed in terms of ownership through Agrarian Reform Program. Therefore, I ask Minister of Agrarian and Spatial Planning/National Land Agency to focus not only on completing land certification program, particularly for underprivileged people, but also on implementing data collection and management of approximately 4.9 million hectares of state land whose ownership can be passed to the people. It is including land and non-prolonged right of exploitation (HGU) as well as abandoned lands.
I demand that agrarian reform also includes the management of about 4.85 million hectares of state forest under the management of Ministry of Environment and Forestry.
Moreover, I emphasise that the management and redistribution process of this asset to be monitored in detail so that it will be well targeted and can be benefited for the people in the lowest 40 percent of economic status.
Regarding social forestry, I remind you that at this moment, there are at least 12.7 million hectares of land set as the target of social forestry program, comprising village forest and customary forest.
This morning, I met figures of Indigenous Peoples Alliance of the Archipelago (AMAN), and as we might be aware, the Government has officially acknowledged customary forest since last December. We will continue to carry it out, and the number of areas that have been verified keeps increasing significantly. We really want to focus on this program so the asset redistribution and agrarian reform can soon be accomplished.
I think that is all I can say in this fine opportunity. (PR, Cabinet Secretariat) (AW/YM/Naster)