ATR Minister Has Not Approved HGU Land up to 1.67 Million Hectare

Minister of Agrarian and Spatial Planning/Head of the National Land Agency (BPN) Nusron Wahid (ANTARA/Muzdaffar Fauzan)

JAKARTA - Minister of Agrarian and Spatial Planning/Head of the National Land Agency (BPN) Nusron Wahid stated that until now he has not signed a request for business rights (HGU) in the land sector up to 1.67 million hectares.

Nusron emphasized that this was because his party was still focused on arranging in the field of land.

"Because this year we want to sign. And what is on my desk is a total of new applications, extensions, and renewals on my desk, 1,673,000 hectares. We have not signed any of them," he said, quoted by ANTARA, Friday, December 19.

Nusron emphasized that the government should not hesitate to take firm action against problematic permits, including those suspected of contributing to the flood disaster in Sumatra.

"That's why the President at the cabinet meeting yesterday, especially in North Sumatra, West Sumatra, and Aceh, which is the cause of the flood, if later there is an HGU, there is a mining permit in the forest and so on, I make sure that it is illegal. Brush, brush ajagakada urusan, because this year we have not signed," he said again.

According to him, land arrangement is carried out with the principle of justice, emphasizing the essence of agrarian reform is not merely distributing land, but ensuring that every citizen has the right to live decently as mandated by the constitution.

"The essence of agrarian reform is not just about distributing land, but how to ensure that every individual citizen of Indonesia has the right to a decent life," he said.

Previously, he emphasized that every HGU holder must maintain environmental sustainability in their concession area as an absolute operational requirement.

"Every grant of land rights is always accompanied by responsibilities and restrictions that must be obeyed by the permit recipient," said the Director of Land Reform Directorate General of Agrarian Planning of the Ministry of ATR/BPN Rudi Rubijaya in Samarinda, East Kalimantan (Kaltim), Thursday (4/12).

He said the government is currently implementing a land management concept known as the 3R, namely Right (Rights), Responsibility (Responsibility), and Restriction (Prohibition/Restriction), to ensure corporate compliance.

"The right holder not only has the freedom to use the land," he said, "but must also comply with the obligation to maintain conservation areas, such as river boundaries so that they are not damaged by business activities."