Jakarta – Coordinating Economic Minister Darmin Nasution has said the government did not have enough funds to meet the target of certifying 5 million plots of land this year.
"The agrarian and spatial planning minister has reported that there is a problem with the budget," said Darmin as reported by kompas.com in Jakarta on Friday, adding that the Rp 1.4 trillion (US$105 million) allocated in the 2017 state budget was only enough to certify 2 million plots of land.
The land certification program is part of the nation's agrarian reform agenda, which is being carried out to provide legal certainly for landowners.
Previously, President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo said the government was targeting to distribute 5 million hectares of land this year and 7 million ha next year. Usually, it usually only issues certification for 500,000 to 700,000 ha per year.
Darmin said the Finance Ministry would try to find a way of securing funds to finance the certification of the remaining 3 million plots of land.
As part of the land certification program, the government has developed a measuring system, said Darmin, adding that training and vocational programs were expected to produce land measuring professionals.
"We have to create a system for doing the job. The Agrarian and Spatial Planning Ministry will announce which villages will start receiving land certification," Darmin added. (bbn)