Writer : Dies Gaudi I Editor : Achmad Zulfikar Luthfi
One of the main distinctions in human rights as adopted in Indonesia is a right to own a private property. These private properties are especially important as to freedom of individuals to own private property such as private ownership of land. The historical development of the idea of human rights is closely connected to the right to private (individual or common) property, especially of indigenous peoples. As a country filled with massive natural resources, private ownership of land is very important since historically Indonesia is a country mostly filled with farmers. Indonesia has adopted this human rights provision and the protection of the property rights in its constitution. Indonesia 1945 Constitution adopted this in Article 28H where it is regulated that every person shall be entitled to personal property and such property right shall not be taken over arbitrarily by whomsoever.
Despite the protection in the Constitution, rights to private property remain unsecured because of the massive corruption scandal in Indonesia’s agrarian system and in its judicial system. Corruption has the most devastating effects in developing countries because it hinders any advance in economic growth and democracy (UNDP, 1998). The wide variety of forms of corruption appears to exist in the land sector as in any other sector, for example bribery, fraud and nepotism. Bribery includes abuse of discretion because of payments by third parties. It appears that registration of property rights, registration of change of title, acquiring land information, cadastral land survey and land use planning are subject to corruption. Fraud in land administration includes abuse of discretion for personal gain without third party involvement. It appears that sales of land and dealing in shares of plantations etc., are not free from Corruption, Nepotism, Favouritism, Clientelism involve abuse of discretion for the benefit of family, friends etc. It appears that issuing such property rights to land that belong to others (also the State) is subject to corruption.
Corruption has indeed become a consequential issue that threatens the welfare of Indonesian society. One anti-corruption law enforcement agency, KPK, has published a comprehensive study regarding this issue. In its study, KPK surveys concludes that public still give a poor rating to the Ministry of Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning/National Land Agency (ATR/BPN), including being identified as a government institution with a high probability of bribery (IPK, 2017), the prevalence of brokers in service processes (50%), and conflicts of interest (SPI KPK, 2019), as well as ranking as the third most corrupt sector (ICW, 2020). Complaints related to land cases also constituted the highest number of reports received by the Indonesian Ombudsman (2015-2017).
The effect of corruption in the land administration is massive, especially to indigenous people and less-educated people. Corruption in land administration reduces access to land, harms the livelihoods of small-scale producers, agricultural labourers, indigenous communities and landless rural and urban poor. Women, young people and ethnic minorities are the groups who suffer most by having their access to land hindered by corruption. Land corruption can also have a negative effect on the development and prosperity of national economies, and can cause food insecurity.
Recent study from one of Indonesia NGO shows that during President Joko Widodo’s two terms in office, there has been 2,939 agrarian conflicts covering a total area of 6.3 million hectares. These conflicts have affected 1.75 million households across Indonesia. Data from the Agrarian Reform Consortium (KPA) shows that: 25 million hectares of land are controlled by palm oil companies, 10 million hectares are controlled by mining companies, and 11.3 million hectares are controlled by timber companies. Meanwhile, 17.24 million smallholder farmers only have land ranging from 0.1 to 0.5 hectares, while the rest are landless farm laborers (KPA, 2024).
These studies show an ongoing pattern in land corruption, large corporations often seize land belonging to small landowners by bribing officials in order to maximize their profits. One of the latest examples is the sea fence case, where, mysteriously, one of Indonesia’s largest property companies managed to obtain a land certificate for an area in the sea.
In hindsight, this issue may be arised from corporate greed, but we must also recognize that it arises from a deeply ingrained culture of corruption in the mindset of Indonesian society. A drastic reform is needed for the officials responsible and the law enforcement authorities in Indonesia. Sadly if this issue continues, which the writer thinks it will, there will be no land left for people to call a home, instead what we get is an overly expensive home sold by property developers and over the top entertainment spaces that only a few people can access.
