Anissa S. Febrina, Jakarta – Land disputes seem to be a dime a dozen in Indonesia right now. In the last four weeks alone the country has seen arguments and wars arise over car park lots, residential and commercial properties and farming fields alongside Navy developments.

Land expert Gunawan Wiradi said speculation over land ownership, when combined with an unjust distribution of that land, was a full-proof recipe for disaster.

And it would seem the proof is in the pudding, with the Meruya Selatan case and the horrifying incident in Pasuruan, East Java just two recent examples.

These are not isolated cases though – every passing year sees thousands more disputes filed in court or through land agency offices across the archipelago.

"Land is seen as a commodity. Speculation is made legal while in fact land ownership is crucial to one's life – either for residential space or as land for farmers," Gunawan said. But Indonesia seems to constantly side with whomever has the money.

Wiradi said a holistic land processing reformation would require strong political will from the government. He said the first step would involve a complete overhaul of the current land distribution process, before the development a solid database of land ownership with up-to-date and precise information.

And although a database was set up two years ago, cases of "overlapping land ownerships" occurred regularly, Wiradi said.

National Land Agency former land information deputy Chairul Basri Achmad was responsible for the country's land ownership database. He said regency and municipality administration support was essential if local land agencies were expected to collect much-needed information.

"South, West and Central Jakarta have started the process," said Chairul. "But, actually cities like Balikpapan (East Kalimantan), Kendal and Karang Anyar in Central Java have been the fastest in sorting out the database issue."

According to experts, the collection of up-to-date information was just the tip of the iceberg.

National Land Agency (BPN) dispute officer Bambang S. said, "we have to admit that there are a lot of overlapping certificates of ownership – and mostly these occurred because a third party worked together with allegedly corrupt officials".

Bambang said during investigations of land disputes, his office had found "a lot of manipulated land certificates – papers that could easily be obtained with the help of corrupt officials working with small companies in the printing business hub of Central Jakarta".

Without a solid land database, BPN itself, as an independent non-departmental institution, has neither the capacity nor the human resources to cross-check new land ownership applications.

Once all the required documents are completed BPN has only the authority to issue the ownership certificate.

This questionable system operates at every level of administration – from offices in sub-districts and villages, to Jakarta's central office.

So the merry-go-round of land speculation and overlapping certificates seems set to continue – and with every questionable ownership certificate, there undoubtedly comes a fiery land dispute crises.