DPRD Kabupaten Barito Timur (Bartim) recently held a Public Hearing or RDPU to discuss the issue of land belonging to local residents and palm plantation companies on May 2, 2023. The RDPU was led by Chairman of DPRD Barito Timur, Nur Sulistio, accompanied by Vice Chairman Ariantho S Muler and other members of DPRD. Representatives from the Regional Government were also present, including the Acting Assistant I Ari Panan P Lelu, Head of Agriculture and Food Security, Head of Environment Department, ATR/BPN, representatives from PT. Ketapang Subur Lestari (KS), PT. Indopenta Sejahtera Abadi ((ISA) and representatives from the local community.
The Chairman of DPRD, Nur Sulistio, reported that the RDPU discussed the issue of revoked palm plantation concession lands and lands owned by individuals or employees of the plantation companies. “Both of these issues have already been answered normatively by the company. The issue of the revoked concession land has been confirmed by the company to the Ministry and the Ministry has issued a letter stating that the revocation has been cancelled or returned. The letter’s number and other details were already announced,” explained Nur Sulistio.
Furthermore, regarding lands owned by individuals, the company has already released them, and they were placed under the name of employees for administrative purposes. However, the responsibility for this lies with the company. “The company is also obliged to provide plasma land of 20% of the total area,” added Nur Sulistio.
The discussion also touched on the issue of Land Use II Transmigration, where the Land Ownership Certificate (SHM) already exists, but the land itself has not been provided. The local residents also raised the issue of lands that belonged to them, but were then given to the companies under the concept of Land Use Rights (HGU). BPN (Badan Pertanahan Nasional/National Land Agency) explained that the technical aspect of this matter should be handled by the residents themselves, who need to provide evidence of land ownership and coordinate with the companies. The companies should then give an HGU registration number, as the proposer of HGU is the company itself.
Lastly, the condition of the roads used by the company is poor and requires repair. The responsibility to fix the road jointly lies with the company and the local community, as this problem affects the residents living in the company’s surrounding areas. “Please help to repair the damaged road,” concluded Nur Sulistio.
