Infrastructure projects: Regions accelerate land acquisition
This article has been translated by PwC Indonesia as part of our Indonesia Infrastructure News Service. PwC Indonesia has not checked the accuracy of, and accepts no responsibility for the content.
Bisnis Indonesia - Proyek infrastruktur: Daerah kebut pembebasan lahan
27 September 2021
By: Akhirul Anwar
Bisnis, Jakarta – Regional governments are targeting to complete several land acquisition agendas for the construction of infrastructure projects approaching the end of the year by using their Regional Budget (APBD).
Jakarta Provincial Government is allocating a budget of Rp1 trillion for land acquisition to normalise rivers and reservoirs to prevent flood in the Capital city.
Jakarta Deputy Governor, Ahmad Riza Patria, said that land acquisition was conducted along Ciliwung River to continue the river normalisation in line with the applicable regulation and mechanism.
“The land acquisition is carried out according to the budget, and it is implemented in line with the applicable regulation and mechanism. There is a team established to organise [the activity],” Riza said as quoted by Antara on Sunday (26/9).
In carrying out land acquisition, Riza continued that Jakarta Provincial Government must be extremely careful in conducting the land acquisition process to prevent future issues.
“We must learn from previous experiences to remain careful and aware in carrying out the process,” he stated.
Jakarta Water Resources Agency Chairperson, Yusmada Faisal, said that land acquisition to normalise rivers and reservoirs had been regulated by Governor Instruction No. 49 of 2021 on Resolution of Regional Priority Issues Year 2021-2022.
“The APBD provides around Rp1 trillion for land acquisition to normalise reservoirs and rivers, in line with the Governor Instruction,” he stated
Yusmada added that the land acquisition was still waiting for the parcel map to be completed to measure the lands owned by citizens. The measurement will be conducted by Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning Ministry/National Land Agency (ATR/BPN).
The parcel map will become a base for the government to calculate the cost of the land acquisition. Land acquisition for Ciliwung River normalisation includes Rawajati, Cawang, and Gedong Sub-districts. Meanwhile, land acquisition for Sunter River normalisation includes Cipinang Melayu, Cipinang Muara, and Pondok Bambu Sub-districts.
“[The measurement will be] focused on Rawajati that has never been measured and Cawang. 11 land plots remain in Cawang,” Yusmada stated.
After the measurement and the parcel map are finished, the next step is to hold discussions with citizens. The socialisation and the discussions are expected to be conducted smoothly so that land acquisition can be completed on time in October 2021.
Moreover, river normalisation is conducted to increase the capacity of rivers and reservoirs to hold more rainfall during high rain intensity to anticipate flood.
Land acquisition is quite vital for flood control projects in Jakarta.
Recently, the Public Works and Public Housing (PUPR) Ministry stated that the construction of Ciliwung River embankment this year would rely on land acquisition realisation in Ciliwung watershed area (DAS) by Jakarta Provincial Government.
Director of Rivers and Coasts of the PUPR Ministry, Bob Arthur Lambogia, said that the total length of Ciliwung River embankment reached 33 kilometres. The embankment construction has reached around 48.48% or around 16 kilometres.
“Only 17 kilometres remain, we only have to wait for the land acquisition result from Jakarta Provincial Government. If the lands have been acquired, the PUPR [Ministry] will commence construction,” he stated on Sunday (23/5).
Bob stated that lands that have been acquired by Jakarta Provincial Government reached 6.7 kilometres. However, he continued that the embankment construction still could not commence as lands that had been acquired were not connected.
Jakarta Provincial Government mentioned that there were still many disputes that hindered land acquisition for river normalisation in the Capital city.
Hence, Jakarta Provincial Government requires more time to resolve the disputes before carrying out the land acquisition. The second obstacle is the limited budget for land acquisition in Jakarta.
According to Jakarta Deputy Governor, Ahmad Riza Patria, Jakarta Provincial Government had allocated Rp5 trillion until 2024 for land acquisition to carry out Ciliwung River normalisation.
Flyover
Meanwhile, South Sumatra Provincial Government is allocating Rp24 billion to carry out land acquisition for the construction of Sekip Interchange flyover in Palembang City.
South Sumatra Regional Legislative Council (DPRD) Commission IV Chairperson, Syamsul Bahri, said that the Rp24 billion fund was an additional funding that has been allocated in APBD-P and has been approved at South Sumatra DPRD Budget Board meeting.
He hopes that the additional fund can be used to complete the land acquisition to commence physical construction this year. If the project is not realised soon, then the fund can be withdrawn by the central government.
“It has entered its fourth year, so it cannot be delayed again. The purpose of this construction is the interest of Palembang citizens. Do not let it be withdrawn by the central government,” Syamsul said.
South Sumatra Regional Service Office for Public Works in Highway Construction and Spatial Planning (PUBM-TR) Chairperson, Darma Budhy, said that, previously, South Sumatra Provincial Government had received Rp56 billion, so the remaining Rp24 billion was the responsibility of Palembang Local Government to carry out land acquisition.
However, Palembang Local Government, with all considerations, is handing over the funding responsibility to the provincial government.
So, the total land acquisition budget for Sekip Interchange flyover in Palembang that reaches Rp80 billion is provided by the provincial government.
The first stage of the payment worth Rp9.8 billion was provided to acquire 16 land plots two months ago. Then, the second stage of the payment worth Rp12.7 billion to acquire 20 land plots has also been provided on Tuesday (21/9).
36 land plots worth Rp56 that are the responsibility of his agency have also been realised in two stages.
“Then, soon, the third stage will be realised. Hopefully, it can be finished by this September,” Darma said.
On the other hand, South Sumatra National Road Body (BBJN) V has scheduled to tender the construction by October. Then, the project will commence groundbreaking in November.
Meanwhile, the central government is continuously boosting APBD absorption of regional governments as there are still many regions with unoptimized expenditure.
There are 33 provinces in Indonesia that have yet to use their budget optimally. Central Java is the only province with higher expenditure realisation than revenue realisation.
He explained that almost all provinces had yet to realise their revenue budget and regional expenditure maximally. The Finance Ministry recorded that APBD revenue from January to August 2021 reached 53.7% of the target.
APBD expenditure realisation until August 2021 reached 44.2% of the target, which means that there is a 9.5% difference to the revenue.
“There are regions with similar revenue and expenditure. There are regions with large revenue, but their expenditure is still lacking. The expenditure of most [provinces] are lower [than their revenue],” Finance Minister, Sri Mulyani Indrawati, said during the press conference APBN KiTa on Thursday (23/9).
