Dion Bisara, Jakarta – The draft of a land regulation aimed at attracting more infrastructure investment could violate landowners' rights, activists and lawmakers claim.

The government wants the bill to create a stronger legal basis to speed up land acquisition, a key factor hampering development. Land acquisition now is regulated by a 2005 presidential decree that was revised a year later.

The draft bill, expected to be submitted to the House of Representatives this year, would replace the decree. The draft bill says landowners must sell if the land has been designated for a public project.

These would cover projects such as dams, transport facilities including roads and railways, drainage systems or "other projects" considered by the president as serving the public interest.

The executive director of Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) Berry Nahdian Furqon is worried about the "other projects" that can be determined by the president. "This could justify eviction for whatever suits the government's interest," Berry said.

The potential of human rights abuse was high because not all landowners had certificated proof of ownership. "In the end the land owners must accept whatever price tag is put on their land, even though they might principally disagree with the project because they think it has nothing to do with them."

According to the bill, if a piece of land is needed for a project deemed to be in the public interest, an independent appraisal will determine the price before the owner sits down with a committee to determine payment, whether in the form of cash, a new house, land swap or shares in the project.

The committee will include officials from the local mayor's and governor's offices and the national land agency, known as BPN. Landowners must receive compensation within 60 days for cash compensation, while other compensation will be within an agreed time. The bill aims to cut the complex land acquisition process in half.

Landlords who disagreed with the compensation after the two-month negotiation period would have 14 days to appeal to the High Court, which must issue a verdict within 30 days.

However, the project can go ahead during the appeal as the government has the right to take the land in the public interest. Once the High Court issues a verdict, land owners have no further avenue of appeals.

"The main idea is that the negotiation process and construction process could be done separately, therefore any disputes would not disrupt construction," said Lucky Eko Wuryanto, deputy for infrastructure and area development at the Economy Coordinating Ministry.

Analysts have said a problem arises when just one landowner rejects an offer, holding up a project for possibly years. However, Arif Wibowo, a legislator with the Indonesia Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P), opposes the idea of separating the negotiation and construction processes.

"I agree that the infrastructure is crucial, but it should not take away people's land rights," Arif said. "If those processes are separated, all acquisition processes will be chaotic. I just want this law to guarantee that the land will be given sincerely by the owners. Putting a cap on the negotiation time will not help."

Golkar Party lawmaker Harry Azhar Azis said there was much to discuss to ensure landowners would get a fair price. "For example, the land might be priced at market value but other landowners beside the road project will enjoy a better price in future. Things like this need more consideration," Harry said. He warned that legislators might not be able to finish the bill by this year.

Lucky Eko said it was important the government inform the public about its infrastructure plans. "Communicating the master plan to the public is crucial, so that when land acquisition begins, people will not be surprised," he said.

Frans Sunito, the president director at toll road builder Jasa Marga, supports the bill.

"Speaking about fairness, public interest should be first. How come you say it's fair for a few land owners to block a flood canal project at the expense of millions of others who will suffer because of floods," he said. "We are talking about the greater good here and I hope everyone plays their part."

Frans said the government had to ensure everybody knew the master plan. "In the past, people did not know about the land plan, allowing speculators to manipulate the land price. Transparency will stop this," he said.