Minister of Transmigration M. Iftitah Sulaiman Suryanagara told legislators here on Monday that the issue has been detected in various regions across Indonesia, including the Malili Transmigration Area in Luwu Timur District, South Sulawesi Province.
He added that while transmigrants have settled in the area since 1998–1999, a 2019 decree from the Ministry of Environment and Forestry designated 94 land lots within the transmigration zone as part of the forest area.
Additionally, 95 lots were identified to be lying within a buffer zone. As a result, about 400 transmigrant families are facing challenges in obtaining land ownership rights (SHM) for their land.
“Most of the land overlap issues between transmigration zones and forest areas date back to the 1990s and continued through 2022,” Suryanagara observed.
“However, some issues go back even further, such as in the case of Trans Tanjungan Village in South Lampung, which dates back to 1968,” he added.
He said that Government Regulation Number 23 of 2021 on Forestry Management and Ministerial Regulation Number 7 of 2021 on Forest Planning, Change of Forest Area Designation, and Use of Forest Areas could be implemented to resolve the land issues.
The solutions could include adjusting boundaries, revoking forest area status, changing land use permits, and enabling social forestry access.
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“We believe that revoking forest area status from transmigration areas should be prioritized. Should the mechanism be implemented, we hope for affirmative policies that do not burden the transmigrants,” Suryanagara added.
The meeting between the Transmigration Ministry and Commission V of the DPR, which oversees infrastructure and transportation issues, concluded with an agreement to revoke the forest area status of transmigration areas.
“Commission V of the DPR requests the government to revoke the forestry status of all forest areas located within transmigration zones. Do we all agree?” deputy chair of Commission V of the DPR, Ridwan Bae, asked. The participants responded in the affirmative.
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Reporter: Uyu Septiyati Liman
Editor: Rahmad Nasution
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