Coordinating Ministry For Political, Legal And Security Affairs Discusses 3 Strategic Issues In West Sumatra: Demographic Bonuses, Illegal Mining And Foreign Ownership Of Land

JAKARTA - The Coordinating Ministry for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs (Kemenko Polhukam) discussed three strategic issues, namely demographic bonuses, illegal mining, and foreign land tenure in West Sumatra (West Sumatra).

"We want to get feedback and input from stakeholders in West Sumatra regarding these strategic issues," said the Expert Staff for Natural Resources and Environment of the Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs, Asmarni, in Padang, reported by Antara, Thursday, June 17.

He said that based on the 2020 Population Census (SP), the population in West Sumatra as of September 2020 was 5.53 million people with a population of productive age (15-64 years) reaching 68.65 percent of the total population. This indicates that West Sumatra is entering a period of demographic bonus.

The productive age population must improve their skills and competitiveness, so that they can compete and increase development in all fields in West Sumatra so that in the future they can improve the welfare of the community.

In addition, the productive age population of 68.65 percent in the future is expected to be able to bear the unproductive age population of 31.35 percent, so that social problems do not occur in the future.

It is hoped that the productive age population will not increase the number of unemployment and poverty in West Sumatra, so that political, legal and security stability can be maintained because based on BPS data, the Open Unemployment Rate (TPT) as of February 2021 was 6.67 percent or ranked eighth out of 34 provinces. with a national average of 6.26 percent. Meanwhile, the number of poor people reached 6.56 percent.

The sociology of the West Sumatran population who likes to migrate is a dilemma for the region, because if there are not enough jobs, skills, and competitiveness, the productive age population cannot develop their area and will prefer to migrate.

Therefore, local governments must be able to formulate the right policy to welcome the demographic bonus in West Sumatra.

On the other hand, the potential of West Sumatra's natural resources is so abundant, inviting foreigners (foreigners) and foreign investors to compete to invest and to have land rights.

Observing this, the Government of Indonesia has limited the space for foreigners and foreign investors not to control land or borrow names in companies through Law Number 5 of 1960 concerning Basic Agrarian Regulations and Law Number 25 of 2007 concerning Investment.

However, foreigners and foreign investors carry out legal smuggling with nominee agreements or marrying Indonesian citizens.

The practice of nominees is important to be banned because it makes the role of foreign investment in promoting economic growth suboptimal, diverts profits from Indonesian investments to other countries, and loses the opportunity to gain knowledge transfer from foreign companies to domestic companies.

Data from the Coordinating Ministry for Political, Legal, and Security Affairs, in the Mentawai Islands Regency there are seven large resorts managed by foreigners (Australia, Spain, and Italy) in collaboration with local communities through land lease agreements whose lease duration can reach 20 years.

In February 2021, it was even discussed on social media and in the news, because Pananggalat Island, located in the Mentawai Islands Regency, West Sumatra, was sold online.

Mentawai is a destination for tourists from various countries, such as Australia. There are tourists who enter legally and are suspected to have illegally entered the Mentawai waters using yachts to carry out tourism and water surfing activities. This is certainly very dangerous for national defense and security.

"This is one of our serious concerns," he said again.

Unlicensed gold mining activities (PETI) are also suspected to be rampant in West Sumatra. PETIs are usually located along rivers, in forests, and near settlements. PETI activities cause damage to forest areas, river flow pollution, sedimentation, and mercury pollution.

This can result in floods/flash floods, landslides, Minamata disease, and social conflicts.

The national strategic project in West Sumatra, namely the Padang-Pekanbaru Toll Road, also has the potential to trigger the proliferation of rock and sand mining, due to the need for stone, sand, and backfill for construction raw materials.

West Sumatra Governor Mahyeldi said the strategic issues discussed would be input for local governments to take future policies.

He also hopes that there will be a solution from the central government for the strategic issues discussed.

Regarding the demographic bonus and unemployment, the West Sumatra Provincial Government is currently focusing on developing agriculture for food security and developing MSMEs.

According to him, there are around 590 thousand MSMEs in West Sumatra that can drive the regional economy. The West Sumatra Provincial Government provides support for this sector.