BPN: Certificates Cannot Be Issued as Long as Land Disputes Are Not Resolved

Certificate illustration (ANTARA)

TANGERANG - The National Land Agency (BPN) has confirmed that land rights certificates cannot be issued for land that is still in a dispute or has not met the criteria for clear and clean. The affirmation was delivered following the controversy over the status of disputed land between residents and PT TMRE.

The Coordinator of Dispute, Conflict, and Case Substantive (SKP) of the BPN, Asep Khaerudin, explained that every application for a certificate must go through the announcement stage for 30 days as stipulated in the applicable provisions.

According to him, the mechanism aims to provide an opportunity for other parties who feel they have the right to the land to submit objections before the process of issuing rights continues.

"The disputed land cannot be issued a certificate. We ensure that it cannot and is prohibited. It must be clear and clean. If it is attacked, what is the announcement for?" said Asep, Sunday, June 7.

Asep referred to the Minister of ATR/BPN Regulation Number 18 of 2021 concerning the Procedure for Determining Management Rights and Rights over Land. In Article 88 paragraph (1) letter g it is stated that the land requested must be free from objections from other parties or not in a dispute status.

He explained that if there were claims or objections from other parties, BPN was obliged to study the documents submitted and facilitate mediation between the parties.

However, BPN does not have the authority to decide which party is most entitled to a piece of land.

"We cannot immediately accept the request if there are objections. If there are claims from other parties, we must study it and mediate. However, BPN cannot decide on disputes; the court decides," he said.

Meanwhile, the lawyer for the heirs, Erdi Surbakti, welcomed the explanation given by BPN. According to him, the clarification provides certainty regarding the status of land administration which has been the object of dispute.

Erdi said that his party had previously received information that PT TMRE claimed to have a certificate for the land. However, based on the results of coordination with BPN, the status of the land in question was said to be only at the stage of the Number of Field Identification (NIB).

"Today we are quite satisfied because it has been proven that the claim of the certificate that has been submitted is not true, because there is only NIB," said Erdi.

He added that his party had reported a number of alleged criminal acts related to the land dispute to the police. According to him, the report includes alleged encroachment, destruction, and persecution.

The reports, said Erdi, have also been submitted to the BPN as a consideration so that the land administration process is not continued before the legal issue is certain.

In addition, Erdi highlighted the alleged irregularities in the process of issuing NIB for the disputed land. He said that the heirs were never asked for approval or a signature as the owner of the land that borders directly with the object.

"The issuance of NIB 28.05.00003022 by BPN is suspected of being legally flawed because the residents as land owners have never been asked to sign as parties with borders, and we suspect that there is a land mafia practice that issues the NIB," he said.

On this basis, the heirs stated that they would continue to monitor the ongoing legal process and asked the police to immediately follow up on the report that had been submitted.

"Because the police report, as we have reported, this is in process. And we hope that the Tangerang City Metro Police will immediately follow up on the report we made," said Erdi.

The land dispute is still ongoing and awaiting further legal proceedings, while BPN insists that the issuance of a certificate cannot be carried out as long as the status of the land is still the object of the dispute.