Gov't Unveils More Detailed Land-Use Map to Resolve Development Planning Disputes
Jakarta. The government launched a more detailed land-use map on Tuesday to resolve overlapping claims in the archipelago, including in forest areas, three years later than initially planned.
It hopes the new map, on a scale of 1:50,000 compared with a previous map on a 1:250,000 scale, will reduce chances of a dispute over the issue of permits for mining, plantations and forest conservation.
The making of the map – initially due for completion by 2015 – had faced obstacles due to "too many fears and worries because of many interests," President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo said at an event to mark the map's launch.
"With this one-map policy, development planning can be more accurate. With this, we will know where the dam is, where the irrigation is, including all concessions from the east to the west to the south," the president added.
However, in the making of the new map, the government found overlapping land use in a combined area bigger than South Korea – some 10.4 million hectares in Kalimantan and 6.4 million hectares on Sumatra Island, Coordinating Economic Affairs Minister Darmin Nasution said.
The government will hold high-level meetings to decide how to resolve rival claims on land in these areas, Deputy Economic Affairs Minister Wahyu Utomo said in a news briefing following the launch.
The government issued a moratorium on new permits for palm plantations for three years in September to protect forests, on top of an existing moratorium on forest and peatland clearings that has been in effect since 2011.
More than 74 million hectares of Indonesian rainforest – representing an area twice the size of Germany – have been logged, burned or degraded over the past 50 years, according to Greenpeace, which has accused palm oil and pulp and paper industries as being major drivers of deforestation.
Meanwhile, Darmin said the government would work to make an even more detailed map on a scale of 1:5,000. He did not say when the government expects this map to be completed.
Reuters
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