Jokowi Holds Limited Meeting on Land Use in Forest Area

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - President Joko Widodo or Jokowi held a limited meeting today, February 26, on the policy concerning the land use in forest areas at Presidential Office, Jakarta.

“I have to remind all that a policy on land use in forest areas is important to provide legal protection, especially for people who uses a plot of land in forest areas,” said Jokowi, opening the meeting.

The President urged related ministers to expedite the data collection and management on lands in forest areas, so that the people, customary law or indigenous community, ulayat communities could also obtain benefits from the land.

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Jokowi also demanded inventory and verification of land ownership in forest areas. “Don’t form a complex process. Make it simple and quick so public complaints that we hear can be solved in a short time,” he underlined.

According to Jokowi, there are many issues related to land use in forest areas faced by locals. He recalled his visit to Bengkulu where he met a citizen, who had lived for a long time in a village, lost in a land dispute case because of living in a concession land controlled by a private party.

Other than Bengkulu, Jokowi found a problem about land use in Java, particularly in state-owned forestry firm Perum Perhutani areas. Many villages in Perhutani complex, he added, could not pave roads as that required a permit from the SOE. Therefore, he demanded his staffers to quickly deal with the issue.

Several state officials attended the limited meeting include Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Darmin Nasution, Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan, Agrarian and Spatial Planning or the National Development Planning Agency (Bappenas) Minister Sofyan Djalil, and Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya.

FRISKI RIANA