Abetnego Tarigan: Government Consistently Realizes Agrarian Reform

Deputy II for Human Development of the Presidential Staff Office (KSP) Abetnego Tarigan. (photo: doc. between)

JAKARTA - The government remains consistent in realizing Agrarian Reform and resolving agrarian conflicts through collaboration with academics and civil society organizations. This affirmation was conveyed by Deputy II for Human Development of the Presidential Staff Office (KSP) Abetnego Tarigan.

Abetnego conveyed this in a public discussion held online with Deputy Minister of ATR/BPN Surya Tjandra, Agrarian Law Expert from Gadjah Mada University Prof. Maria SW Sumardjono and researchers from the Sajogyo Institute, as stated in a KSP press release received by Antara in Jakarta, Saturday, September 18.

"Conflict resolution requires collaboration between the government, civil society organizations and academia. This collaboration is not only to solve cases, but also to learn how to solve them in various policy dynamics," said Abetnego.

He said that so far KSP has received 1,191 complaints of agrarian conflicts, of which 137 cases have been designated as priority cases to be resolved this year.

Abetnego assessed that one of the things that still hampers the problem of agrarian conflicts is the sectoral ego problem between ministries/agencies. According to him, priority monitoring is needed so that ministries/agencies can work in the same space and time.

In the discussion, Sajogyo Institute researcher Ganies Oktaviana reported several other challenges encountered in the field. One of them is the difficulty in the redistribution process of land that is indicated to be abandoned for cultivation rights (HGU) and the release of village settlements from forest areas and land of former PTPN assets in Sigi Regency, Central Sulawesi and Malang Regency, East Java.

This was also conveyed by the Agrarian Law Expert, Prof. Maria SW Sumardjono is of the opinion that the implementation of redistribution of land which is a PTPN asset is not easy because special efforts need to be made.

"Departing from the 2021 (Joint Agrarian) Team chaired by Mr. (Presidential Chief of Staff) Moeldoko, it is necessary to make a special settlement or joint decision to secure BUMN so that it is not considered to be detrimental to the state," said Prof. Maria.

Meanwhile, Deputy Minister of ATR/BPN Surya Tjandra emphasized that the government will continue to evaluate the form of its work. He said these efforts can be seen from the implementation of the Job Creation Law, which is oriented towards strengthening legal certainty to the community over their land rights.