'In The Past, The Darkest Office Was ATR/BPN, All Affairs Were Invisible', Said Ganjar Pranowo

Ganjar Pranowo (Central Java Provincial Government Public Relations Photo)

JAKARTA - Central Java Governor Ganjar Pranowo believes in the seriousness of the Ministry of Agrarian Affairs, Spatial Planning and the National Land Agency (ATR/BPN), as well as the central government's commitment to eradicate the land mafia.

Ganjar admitted that he was shaking when he read the message from the Minister of ATR/BPN during the ceremony. Because in the mandate there are two seriousness that is highlighted. First, the service side is fast and open, including the implementation of the Job Creation Law in supporting business convenience. Second, of course, is related to the seriousness of eradicating the land mafia.

"As the person who reads it, I trembled. There was seriousness that was highlighted there. First on the service side, the role of ATR/BPN was high, such as facilitating permits and providing fast services including space services for businesses. Second, the seriousness of eradicating the land mafia," said Ganjar after served as a ceremony inspector in commemoration of the 2021 National Agrarian and Spatial Planning Day at the Central Java ATR/BPN Regional Office, Semarang, Friday, September 24.

Ganjar said there were big and fast changes related to services at ATR/BPN. He described the service at the previous ATR/BPN as a dark room. However, these conditions have changed and are getting better, faster, and easier day by day.

"This information must be given to the public that if you want to take care of it it's easy. In the past, the darkest office was ATR/BPN. All affairs were invisible, the language was 'peteng ndhedhet'. But now it's bright because everything is closed, opened, and the public can see well. The service is getting faster and easier," said the PDI-P politician.

Some time ago, Ganjar Pranowo also expressed support for eradicating the land mafia. Precisely after the handover of certificates for land redistribution of agrarian objects by the President of the Republic of Indonesia, Joko Widodo, to the farmers' association in Central Java, Wednesday, September 22. At that time, the president emphasized his commitment to eradicate the land mafia, including taking firm action against the backers.

President Jokowi's promise to eradicate the land mafia and resolve agrarian conflicts actually deserves support. Not only that, the promise also needs to be encouraged so that its realization is not only limited to mere words. The reason is that agrarian conflicts during the Jokowi administration did increase significantly compared to the previous administration.

There is something interesting about the data from the Agrarian Reform Consortium. In its 2020 Year-End Report, KPA noted that there were anomalies that occurred from data on agrarian conflicts throughout the year.

Logically, when the COVID-19 pandemic crisis hits, according to KPA, this will be able to stop the eruption of agrarian conflicts. This is because economic growth that is minus assumptions will affect many investment plans and expansion of domestic and foreign business groups.

But what happened was the opposite. "There was an anomaly, a pandemic and minus economic growth turned out to be unable to stop let alone stop the pace of corporate expansion to seize people's lands," he wrote.