Minister Of Home Affairs Instructions Local Government Not To Convert Agricultural Land Into Factory Or Housing

Minister of Home Affairs Muhammad Tito Karnavian (left two) when giving a statement at the Indonesian KPU Building, Jakarta, Wednesday (20/3/2024). (ANTARA)

JAKARTA - The Ministry of Home Affairs (Kemendagri) has asked local governments (Pemda) not to convert agricultural land for other matters, such as housing and industry.

Minister of Home Affairs (Mendagri) Tito Karnavian said this effort was important to keep agricultural production products from decreasing so that national food security could be maintained.

"Otherwise, the land will narrow our agriculture even more. The land will narrow down, the production will decrease, the existing land will be optimized, either with water, irrigation, with soil management, fertilizers, and others," he said in Jakarta, Monday 24 June.

He also encouraged local governments to take advantage of the sleeping grounds in each region to become productive agriculture. This can be done as long as the land is not a protected forest.

"That is what the Ministry of Agriculture (Ministry of Agriculture) is currently working on and is supported by the local government and friends from the ranks of the TNI, efforts to produce rice fields in several areas," he said.

Tito explained that the government has targeted the expansion of agricultural land in certain areas. In fact, Tito has also asked his staff to oversee the program

Local governments can also continue to communicate with relevant ministries and institutions, such as the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Public Works and Public Housing (PUPR), the Ministry of Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning/National Land Agency (ATR/BPN), and the Ministry of Environment and Forestry (KLHK).

"This is our suggestion, later maybe the Acting Secretary General (Kemendagri) can hold a special meeting with regional heads, agriculture services, related agencies in the regions according to the slide so that our efforts to increase agricultural land can really be realized and it can increase domestic production," he explained.

Tito hopes that the local government can prioritize agricultural affairs, even though it is an issue of the concurrent government that is of choice.

According to him, efforts to realize food security require the leadership role of regional heads. If the regions prioritize agricultural affairs, the regional revenue and expenditure budget (APBD) will be filled with various agricultural programs, such as pumping, irrigation, fertilizer, and seeds.

"Please really colleagues from regional heads and the ranks of the Agriculture Service, especially this, pay attention to the affairs of the sunnah choice, make this half mandatory or maybe even mandatory, will automatically color the preparation of the APBD," Tito concluded.