Bandung City Government Says Protected Rice Fields Are Thin Because Of Urbanization

BANDUNG - The Bandung City Government (Pemkot) said that the area of protected rice fields (LSD) in the capital city of West Java is dwindling because there are a number of land conversions that pose a risk to urban development.

The Acting Mayor of Bandung, Yana Mulyana, said that the city of Bandung has 673.37 hectares of protected rice fields (LSD) based on the Decree of the Minister of ATR/BPN No. 1589/SK-HK.02.01/XII/2021. But most of it, he said, has been used to support the development of the city of Bandung.

"We have transferred some land for infrastructure, TPU expansion, and defense and security. The risk in urban areas is indeed limited land because of its status as a metropolitan, this has an impact on the high rate of economic growth," said Yana in Bandung, West Java, Tuesday, April 12. .

Yana explained that the average rice fields in the city of Bandung are rainfed rice fields because they do not have technical irrigation land. So that agricultural productivity, he said, could only produce one harvest per year.

"Especially in the dry season, production will be low, only 2-3 tons per harvest. By utilizing technology to manage 30.7 hectares of perennial rice fields in Bandung City, we can harvest up to three times per year," he said, quoted by Antara.

Responding to the transfer of LSD functions in Bandung, the Director General of Land and Spatial Control and Control at the Ministry of Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning/National Land Agency (ATR/BPN) Budi Situmorang said LSD could be released if the city government could fulfill the agreement in the decree (SK).

"There must be proof of the investment. For example, if the land has been purchased, please include proof of the transaction. We also don't want to hinder the development of the city, so we provide this decree," said Budi.

According to him, the decree contains a middle way that can be taken together. If within the term of office or five years since the decision on the revision of the LSD transfer function is not realized, then the land can be re-defined as LSD.

"For example, there is an area that has to be detoured for tens of kilometers to get to the city. It turns out that if we take the straight road it can be faster, but we have to give up LSD," he said.

"We can release several hectares of rice fields, provided that the surrounding rice fields do not build anything else. This is for the sake of advancing the region or village," he added.