There's Sugar There's Ants, Land Disputes Arise After Sepaku-Penajam Officially Becomes The National Capital

Chairperson of the Class II Penajam District Court, Yohanes Fransiscus

JAKARTA - The determination of some areas in North Penajam Paser Regency, namely Sepaku Sub-district as the location of Indonesia's new IKN (State Capital) in East Kalimantan (Kaltim) raises many land disputes.

"Not only buying and selling land, land lawsuit cases also emerged after Sepaku was determined the location of the IKN," said Head of the Penajam Class II District Court, Yohanes Fransiscus Tri Joko Gantar Pamungkas, in Penajam, Friday, December 10, as reported by Antara.

Cases of lawsuits over land that do not have legality were later revived by the community after many IKNs appeared, he said, especially in areas close to the country's capital city.

From the initial unclear status of the land, since 2020 many people have claimed land that does not have this legality.

"Land lawsuits are starting to appear, especially in areas that are currently candidates for the new state capital in the Sepaku region," said Tri Joko.

Since the stipulation of the Sepaku District as the new IKN Indonesia territory in 2019, the Penajam Class II District Court has handled many land dispute cases.

Prior to the relocation of the state capital in Sepaku District, he said, many people did not care about the legality of land such as certificates and so on.

"Now many communities are starting to claim land that was initially unclear in some places to belong to them, it has sprung up," he said.

The Penajam Class II District Court in North Penajam Paser Regency last year (2020) heard at least 60 cases of community land claims in this area.

However, from 2021 to November, said Tri Joko, only five land lawsuits were handled, three of which have been decided by the Penajam District Court.

Most of the land that is being contested is located in the area of the national capital or around the area of the Sepaku District, this has never happened before the determination of the state capital.