Local Communities Urged to Stop Cultivating Land in Designated IKN Area
Translator
Editor
20 March 2024 15:34 WIB
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Residents of Sepaku have recently received a warning letter from the Land Bank Agency to stop cultivating the land at the designated areas of the Nusantara National Capital (IKN) in Penajam Paser Utara, East Kalimantan. The warning letter came after the IKN Authority issued a letter on March 4 ordering local communities to demolish their houses in the new capital area.
The letter, signed by project team leader Moh Syafran Zamzami and dated March 18, notes that 4,162 hectares of land in Riko subdistrict, Lango Beach, Gersik and Jenebora in Penajam regency, and Maridan subdistrict in Sepaku regency, were under the management rights (HPL) of the Land Bank Agency.
Tempo received a copy of the letter on Tuesday, March 19. According to its official website, the Land Bank Agency is a special agency (sui generis) tasked with managing state land.
A Tempo source said that the warning letter targets 30 farmers who have been working for years on land claimed to belong to the Land Bank Agency.
The letter also states that buildings or huts are standing on the land without the permission of the Land Bank Agency as the holder of the land rights certificate.
The letter advised the residents not to carry out any activities on the land. Failure to do so will constitute a violation of Article 2 of the Government Regulation in Lieu of Law No. 51 of 1960 on the Prohibition of Land Use without Permit, which carries a three-month prison sentence.
A Tempo source claimed that the land has been used for cultivation by farmers with land titles since 1979. “The residents have been threatened and intimidated,” he said, suggesting that the eviction notice was issued to make way for the IKN development project.
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