JAKARTA – President Prabowo Subianto recently held a limited cabinet meeting with a number of ministers to discuss strategic steps in land management, especially those related to oil palm plantations.

During the meeting, which took place at Prabowo’s private residence in Hambalang, Bogor, West Java, Friday (31/1/2025), it was decided that several policies would be implemented immediately to ensure land management complies with prevailing regulations.

One of the main decisions in the meeting was concerned with the measures that will be implemented by the Task Force for Land Use and Investment Management (Satgas Tanah dan Investasi). The Satgas will act in accordance with prevailing regulations to ensure legal compliance among the business players.

Apart from that, the government will also adjust policies regarding land that has been used for oil palm plantations. The adjustment is aimed to create a balance between environmental, economic and the public welfare.

President Prabowo underlined the importance of the state’s presence in enforcing regulations, in accordance with the mandate of Article 33 of the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia. Policies related to natural resources must be oriented towards national interests and managed for the greatest prosperity of the people. Therefore, this land arrangement will be carried out with a measured and systematic approach.

The implementation of all of the decisions taken during the limited cabinet meeting will be directly supervised by President Prabowo Subianto, as the government wants to realize its commitment to maintain a balance between investment and environmental sustainability in land management. It is hoped that the steps taken will provide legal certainty for stakeholders and encourage plantation governance that is more orderly and oriented towards national interests.

Meanwhile, Minister of Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning (ART) and National Land Agency (BPN) Chairman Nusron Wahid said that as of January 2025, there were 194 companies holding palm oil plantation business permits (IUP) with a total land area of ​​1,081,022 hectares (ha) that had not yet applied for land rights (HAT).

Nurson said that the handling of these 194 companies will be subject to the authority of the Palm Oil Task Force (Satgas Sawit) which is led directly by the Ministry of Defense and the Attorney General’s Office.

“This area of ​​1.081 million (ha) is not registered at all (HAT) and President has established the Satgas Sawit led by the Minister of Defense and his deputy Attorney General. Those 194 companies will be handled by the Satgas,” said Nusron in a hearing with Commission II of the house of representatives (DPR) at the Parliament Complex, Senayan, Jakarta, on Thursday (30/1/2025).

Based on government data, there are 537 companies that own palm oil IUPs. Of the 537 companies, 193 companies have received their land rights (HAT) with a total area of ​​283,280.58 ha, 150 companies are in the identification process with a land area of ​​1,144,427,  and the other 194 companies are unclear. (*) Source: sawitkita.id