Remarks of President of the Republic of Indonesia During Inauguration of the 2022 Summit of the Agrarian Reform Task Force, Wakatobi Regency, Southeast Sulawesi Province, June 9, 2022

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim,
Assalamu’alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh,

Good morning,
May peace be upon us all,
Om swastiastu,
Namo Buddhaya,
Greetings of Virtue.

Distinguished Ministers of the Indonesia Onward Cabinet,

Distinguished Chairperson of Commission II of the House of Representatives,

Distinguished Governor of Southeast Sulawesi, Regional Leaders’ Coordination Forum (Forkopimda) Ranks, as well as other Governors joining us here,

Distinguished Regent of Wakatobi, other Regents and Mayors participating at the Association of Governments of Islands, Coastal Regions (Aspeksindo),

Distinguished Participants of the Agrarian Reform Task Force,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Since 2015 I have told everyone, I have ordered [my administration], and I reiterated the importance of [land] certificate. As we have seen, the overlapping land-use must be resolved. Land disputes must be stop. Every time I visit the regions, villages, or small villages, I always encounter land disputes, which also bring investment risks.

Please be cautious. Out of 126 million people, there are only 46 million people that have certificates, meaning that 80 million people live in lands without legal rights over the lands. It is ironic that we distribute certificates for wide areas of lands. [We handed out] rights to land certificate (HGB) for ten thousand hectares of land, two thousand hectares of land, and three thousand hectares of land; yet we have not resolved problems on handover of land ownership certificate (SHM), HGB for 200 m². It is a big question. That’s why, there remain many land disputes. 80 million people lived in lands without certificates in 2015.

So, what is the underlying problem? Every year we only issue 500,000 certificates. If there were 80 million people [that do not have certificate]. 126 million minus 46 million is 80 million. If in a year the Government only issues 500,000 land certificates, meaning that the people have to wait 160 years to get a certificate. We have just realized that the basic problem is the certificate issuance that only amount to 500,000 certificates.

To that end, in 2015 I ordered Minister of Agrarian and Spatial Planning/Head of the National Land Agency (BPN) to issue five million certificates that year. It was complete. I increased the target. Then I asked the Minister to issue seven million certificates in another year. It was also complete. I also ordered the Minister to issue nine million at that time. After checking the progress, I saw that it was complete. It means we can do it. We can do it, but we never do it. The number has increased from 500,000 [certificates] to nine million certificates in a year. As of today, the number of SHM certificates has increased from 46 million to 80.6 million.

In addition, there is another type of problems. Specific problems which occur in small islands. As we have, the Bajo people live off the sea. When they were given land ownership certificate, they would receive it. But there are silos among ministries, “They are not allowed to receive ownership certificate considering it belongs to Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries,” they said. Ministry of the Environment and Forestry also said, “It is not allowed, Sir. It is protected forest area considering it has corals and algae. It is our rights.”

The problems are the same including issues on certificate. Regional governments in regencies/cities, in provinces, as well as the Central Government do not work hand in hand. Work individually with their own interest. If we let these failures persist, our problems would not be solved. Trust me. Problems exist. There are solutions, but we do not resolve them because we do not break the silos. Indeed, that’s the problem.

I truly appreciate the summit. We hope the Agrarian Reform Task Force will be able to immediately bring all ministries, agencies, and regional governments together so they can join forces with a shared vision in resolving land disputes in our country. Once again, it aims to resolve land disputes.

I remind all of you that land disputes would be horrible. It could be dangerous. It could affect bloodshed between individuals, between villages, between groups, or between companies and communities. Please be aware on the social effects, economic effects of it.

If people have [land] certificate, it will become a trigger for the economy given that the certificate can be used as collateral loans to get access to the bank, financial institutions to gain more capital. Once again, I remind you that problems we cannot resolve can negatively affect social, economic aspects.

The problem is not only about the land issues. It is also caused by unintegrated work. Toll project was delayed due to land acquisition issue. Why did it happen? Because there was no communication between the BPN and the regional governments, between the BPN and the constructor company, Minister of Public Works and Public Housing. The project was delayed for 10 years, 20 years.

I inspected to the ground. Why do these problems remain unsolved? Easy problems but we as policy make cannot solve them. Yes, we are. It is ironic, isn’t it? If I call three persons (ministers) to solve them, they can solve them in two weeks. Why do we have to wait until 15-20 years? Now we can solve them because we collaborate.

I reiterate that all ranks of the Central Government, regional governments, ministries/agencies in the central and regional level, all state institutions must be open, synergize, take concrete step. Do not be open only in the meeting forum, but not open during the project implementation. It is our weakness. Once again, all state institutions must be open and synergize.

I remind all of you that I will not tolerate any state losses, people’s losses caused by silos. It’s enough. We must stop them. Problems are caused by them. Thus, we must open.

Now is the momentum. Through this summit we have to break the silos. As read in the Agrarian Reform, we have the One Map Policy. Everyone must implement the policy. In this technology era, we still take manual steps. It is ironic. Building application system, platform is easy. If we cannot do it, call on smarter younger generation who can build them so that certificate issuance can be finished in hours, not in days. We have to start it. If we do not want to be left behind.

That concludes my speech on this auspicious occasion. By saying bismillahirrahmanirrahim, I hereby officially inaugurate the 2022 Summit of the Agrarian Reform Task Force.

I thank you.

Wassalamu’alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh. (AP/EP)