JAKARTA - Representatives of the Kemuning District community, Indragiri Hilir Regency, Riau, complained about land disputes and claims for forest areas that were considered to threaten the lives of residents to the DPR RI Community Aspiration Agency (BAM).
In the Public Hearing (RDPU) chaired by the Chairman of the DPR RI, Ahmad Heryawan, at the Parliament Complex, Jakarta, Wednesday, June 17, the public asked the government to provide legal certainty regarding the status of plantation land and villages that they have been occupying.
Spokesperson for the Kemuning District, Abdul Aziz, said the main problem faced by the community was the claim of forest areas against old villages and plantation land that had been managed by residents for decades.
"The essence of what we conveyed to the BAM of the DPR RI is the public's concern regarding the claim of forest areas in Kemuning District. The majority of the old villages in Kemuning District are claimed to be in the forest area, while the villages have existed even before Indonesia's independence," said Aziz.
He explained that most of the people in Kemuning depend on the palm oil plantation sector for their livelihoods. However, the gardens that have been productive for decades to decades are now said to be in the forest area.
"The people there live mostly from oil palm plantations. After being used and becoming a productive oil palm plantation for 15 to 20 years, the last year it was claimed to be in a forest area," he said.
According to Aziz, the emergence of these claims has caused unrest because the public has never received adequate explanations regarding the legal basis for designating forest areas in their areas.
"Suddenly, a party came and said that this was a forest area and would be taken over on behalf of the state. For us, this is something unethical that happens in a country called Indonesia," he said.
During the forum, the public asked the government to show evidence of the process of strengthening the forest area which is the basis for claims against the Kemuning area.
Aziz explained that according to laws and regulations, the consolidation of forest areas must go through the stages of designation, boundary arrangement, mapping, and determination. However, the community claimed that they never knew that the process was carried out in their area.
"If this claim is indeed a forest area, where are the evidence of the process of strengthening the forest area? If the evidence is there, we will go down to explain to the public that this is indeed a forest area. But if there is none, then what is the basis of the claim?" he said.
He also admitted that he had asked for information from former village officials who had served since the 1990s and did not find any information regarding the activities of delimiting forest areas in the area.
"We have asked former village officials who have served since the 1990s. They said that no forestry party had ever come to arrange the boundaries in the villages. So why is it suddenly claimed to be a forest area?" he said.
In addition to questioning the status of the land, the Kemuning community also complained about alleged intimidation of a number of village cadres during the process of resolving the agrarian conflict.
Aziz said that several village heads were called by certain parties for socialization and clarification, but the meeting was held at an institution that they considered not directly related to agrarian issues.
"When their mission is hampered, the village head is called. The reason is socialization, but the place is at the Makodim. Recently it happened again, the reason is the harmonization invitation, but the place is at the High Prosecutor's Office. Why not in their own office? Why must involve military institutions and the prosecutor's office?" he said.
According to Aziz, this situation makes the public feel depressed and as if they are positioned as the party who violates the law.
"We are as if we are criminals in our own country. Even though the oil palm plantation does not fall from the sky. We worked on the land with sweat and hard work. After producing for 15 to 20 years, suddenly it wants to be confiscated just like that," he said.
Responding to the report, the Chairman of the DPR RI BAM, Ahmad Heryawan, ensured that his party would verify and ask for explanations from all parties concerned to obtain a complete picture of the problems that occurred.
"Of course BAM will follow up, verify, coordinate, confirm to the parties to map what the actual situation is," said Ahmad Heryawan.
According to the former Governor of West Java, the BAM DPR RI will not only listen to public statements, but will also ask for explanations from the local government, the National Land Agency (BPN), and other related agencies.
"While we receive information from Apdesi, we want information and confirmation from the region, both the regent and related parties, including BPN and others," he said.
Ahmad Heryawan emphasized that the resolution of agrarian conflicts must be carried out fairly and provide legal certainty to all parties.
"The most important thing is that the forest area becomes a forest area again, while those who have been used for other purposes are given to the parties who need it most and need it most. Of course, so far it is the related community in the Kemuning area," he said.
He said the results of the verification and data collection would later be summarized in the official report of the DPR RI BAM which would become the basis for drafting recommendations to the leadership of the DPR RI.
According to Ahmad Heryawan, it is not ruled out that the problems faced by the Kemuning community will be followed up by Commission IV of the DPR RI or become the subject of discussion in a special forum that handles agrarian conflicts.
"Everything will be summarized in a BAM report. Later the recommendation may be to ask Commission IV to follow up, or to be a material that must be discussed in the sub-committee on agrarian conflicts and others. That will be a recommendation from BAM for stakeholders," he concluded.
The Kemuning community hopes that the verification process carried out by the DPR RI BAM can provide legal certainty and a just solution for residents who have been dependent on oil palm plantations in the area.
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