Agrarian reform more than just land certs
Published on: Friday, January 27, 2023
By: Tempo
JAKARTA: Secretary General of the Agrarian Reform Consortium (KPA) Dewi Kartika assessed that the government of Joko Widodo (Jokowi) (pic) has failed to execute the agrarian reform agenda.“The main goal of agrarian reform in Indonesia is to improve the land tenure system, resolve structural agrarian conflicts, and become a source of prosperity,” said Dewi in a discussion on Agrarian Reform Towards 2024 Political Change this week.
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Dewi explained that those ideal goals were not used as indicators by President Jokowi in the field.
“What has actually become the indicator is the number of certificates, as if agrarian reform is the same as land certification,” she argued.
Although it is important, she went on, the legalisation of land rights is only a small part of the agrarian reform process.
“First, restructure the land. Show partiality. How many hectares of land are for farmers, how many hectares of land are for companies,” said Dewi, adding that the land distribution to farmers should not be conducted arbitrarily but needs to take into account the economic scale
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Another problem with agrarian reform that the President failed to implement is the settlement of agrarian conflicts. “How many agrarian conflicts have been resolved during the eight years of Jokowi’s administration?” she asked.
The last issue, said Dewi, is regarding state-owned land and forest area claims. “Based on KPA records, none of the approximately 100 SOE agrarian conflicts and forest area claims have been settled. The state should have freed people residing in areas claimed as forest areas,” she underlined.
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