Desy Nurhayati, Jakarta – The Defense Ministry, in cooperation with the National Land Agency (BPN), aims to accelerate the certification of around 3.6 million square meters of land belonging to the ministry and the Indonesian Military (TNI).
Defense Minister Juowno Sudarsono and BPN head Joyo Winoto signed a MoU agreed to speed up the certification process in Jakarta on Tuesday because it was deemed an urgent step in managing assets, including many currently under dispute.
"Currently, only about 10 percent of land belonging to the ministry and the TNI has been certified," Juwono said, adding that without moves to speed up the process it could take up to 45 years to certify all the land.
The minister said his office and the land agency still had to further calculate the final budget for financing the certification process.
Joyo said the BPN expected to complete the process in its entirety within the next 15 years. "We need the ministry to prepare all the legal and technical requirements and we will focus on finalizing it," he said.
The MOU will also assist in managing numerous plots of land which are currently being disputed by both business communities and locals.
"We will find the best solution for every single case and ensure these conflicts do not happen again," Joyo said, adding that the land agency would assign its officers as a mediator between the military and the public involved in the conflicts.
Military officers are frequently involved in land disputes nationwide, and in the past human rights violations have been linked with disagreements.
In a land dispute in Pasuruan, East Java, in 2006 four villagers shot dead after the government gave their land to the Navy to be used as a combat training area.
Joyo said the BPN would prioritize a mediation approach to settle the conflicts instead of bringing the cases to court. "We will also invite the National Commission on Human Rights to investigate if we find indications of rights violation," he said.
The MOU also agreed on the legalization of land at strategic locations for military and field training, he said. "It is important to secure the land for the sake of national defense," Joyo said.
Earlier this month, the BPN kicked off a mobile service of land certification called Larasita (Public Service for Land Certification).
The program, launched by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in Klaten, Central Java, aims to provide inexpensive, simple, fast and accurate land certification and help address disputes over property ownership.
Furthermore, it was designed to eliminate land brokers and boost the tainted image of BPN, which is deemed as one of the most corrupt public institutions in the country.
Under the Larasita scheme, people no longer need to visit BPN office branches to register their ownership records because agency officers offer door-to-door services, as well as using the Internet and wireless communication systems to carry out the same tasks.