Land ownership permits to be simplified:

On March 1st. 2001, a public consultation hearing on a revision of the 1960 Agrarian Law began in Jakarta to, among other things, help simplify the procedures and permits involved in land ownership.

The consultations were held under the aegis of the National Land Agency (BPN), and the National Development Planning Board (Bappenas), the two bodies which are drafting the revisions. The BPN deputy chief Luthfi Nasution stated, "...it is a fact that a lack of legal knowledge has led to wide spread land disputes and that's why we're going to revise it." By simplifying the required permits, "both the general public and investors will find it easy to deal with land matters," he added.

Among the proposed revisions to Law No. 5/1960 is the simplification of permits into property ownership documents and land use rights. The current regulations consist of a slew of complicated permits such as Building Use Rights (Hak Guna Bangunan HGB) and Commercial Use Rights (Hak Guna Usaha HGU), Property Ownership Rights (Hak Milik) and Land Use Rights (Hak Pakai).

HGB confers the right to use a property which is not necessarily owned by the permit holder while a HGU confers the right to use a property for commercial purposes. Use Rights is the right to use a certain property for a particular period of time. It was also agreed to work on several revisions of the basic Agrarian law, such as clear recognition of traditional land rights (hak ulayat) which had been neglected for quite some time, the proper limit for land ownership, social participation and equality in sharing land possessions. The review, with a view to revising the law will also touch on sensitive subjects such as limits on property holding in real estate redevelopments, plantations, resorts, tourism sites, and industrial estates.

The Agrarian Law doesn't state that a location permit is needed for land-related activities. The law also states that traditional land rights are protected, but in many cases these rights have been lost due to simple ignorance or manipulation by third parties.