JAKARTA - Member of Commission II of the House of Representatives from the Gerindra faction, Azis Subekti, highlighted the case of a land dispute covering an area of 16.4 hectares in Makassar that dragged the name of former Vice President Jusuf Kalla. According to Azis, the land mafia and land administration issues in the past were not just issues in the media, but a bitter reality that could happen to anyone.
"If a former Vice President alone can become a victim of mismanagement of land administration, especially small people who do not have access to power and network," Azis told reporters, Friday, November 14.
Azis assessed that the hectic news of the land mafia has so far emphasized serious problems in land governance, including allegations of involvement of internal elements in land institutions in the past.
According to him, the issuance of multiple certificates, overlapping data, and an opaque administrative process has resulted in legal uncertainty that harms citizens and erodes public trust in the country.
"President Prabowo Subianto has long reminded about the Indonesian paradox: a large country, but the control of the land is very lame, where the largest portion is controlled by a handful of people compared to the people. Therefore, in the Asta Cita Presiden, agrarian reform and reorganizing fair land ownership are one of the main priorities. Land is not just economic assets, but the right to life and future space for all Indonesian people," explained the legislator from the Central Java electoral district.
The member of the Special Committee for the Settlement of Agrarian Conflicts in the DPR also said that the double certificate case that befell the former Vice President, Jusuf Kalla, came from the old administrative product of BPN. Azis said this case was not a single case.
Azis explained that national data recorded at least 11,083 land disputes, 506 conflicts, and 24,120 land cases in 2024, with a new settlement rate of around 46.88 percent. As of October 2025, the Ministry of ATR/BPN recorded 6,015 land cases received and 50 percent have been resolved.
"This means that more than half of the land problems are still hanging and have the potential to become a source of legal uncertainty and social conflict in the future," he explained.
More concerning, continued Azis, the small people are actually in the most vulnerable position. Throughout 2024, there were around 2,161 land cases involving small communities, apart from that 295 agrarian conflicts were recorded in various regions.
"If a former Vice President can become a victim of maladministration, then the risk for farmers, fishermen, and ordinary citizens is much greater. Many of them do not have legal ability, access to information, or political networks to fight for their rights. This is where the state must be present actively, not passively," he said.
"In that context, I emphasize that the land dispute case in Makassar that caused Mr. Jusuf Kalla to be harmed by the maladministration of BPN personnel must be used as an important lesson. This is a momentum to fix the total openness of administration and the system for granting land rights, from upstream to downstream. There should no longer be a gray space that allows dual certificates, data manipulation, or brokering practices that harm citizens," continued Azis.
Azis emphasized that in the future the Ministry of ATR/BPN needs to open the widest possible space for handling similar cases involving the small people. If a national figure can become a victim, said Azis, you can imagine how many ordinary people have chosen to remain silent because they don't know how to complain or feel they don't have the power to fight back.
"The state must be present, not only by solving large cases that are in the media spotlight, but also by resolving thousands of silent cases that ensnare the small people in various regions," he said.
Azis stated that the Gerindra Party fully supports the firm steps taken by the Minister of ATR/BPN to clean up institutions from individuals who play in land affairs and accelerate the reform of the land administration system. He emphasized that data digitization, transparency of service processes, strong monitoring mechanisms, and easy access to information for the public must be accelerated.
"People's trust in state institutions can only be built with concrete actions that close irregularities, not just rhetoric," he said.
"The case that happened to Mr. Jusuf Kalla must be a turning point. The state must not lose by the land mafia. Land in Indonesia must return to its noble function: provide certainty of a fair life for all people, from national figures to the smallest people," concluded Azis Subekti.
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