Jokowi sees land certificates as key to ending land disputes

Jakarta (ANTARA) - President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) stated on Tuesday that the government's land certificate distribution program, now at 110 million certificates issued nationwide, is a solution to address land disputes in Indonesia.

"Back in 2015, every time I visited villages and checked infrastructure, I always heard complaints about land disputes," he stated during the handover of 3,000 land certificates to residents in Grobogan District, Central Java.

He pointed out that the issue of land disputes during his early administration was due to the limited number of certificates issued by the National Land Agency (BPN).

Back then, the agency could only produce 500,000 certificates annually, while Indonesia needed approximately 126 million certificates in total. In 2015, only around 46 million people held certificates.

Hence, the government had to do a lot of homework to issue the remaining 80 million certificates, Jokowi remarked.

He said that he had instructed BPN to increase certificate issuance, which has now surpassed 10 million per year. This effort has yielded around 110 million certified lands across Indonesia.

"Only a little is left. Without COVID-19 slowing things down this year, we could have reached 120 million. However, it is slightly postponed to next year," Jokowi said.

He expressed belief that the next government will continue the certification program to avoid any land disputes in the future.

Jokowi emphasized the importance of land certificates as legal proof of ownership, clearly stating the owner's name, land area, and location.

"In the past, court disputes required years of legal proceedings because the land owner did not have the certificate, but now they have proof of the legal rights to their land," he remarked.