Essay

ITDC-Mandalika Agrarian Conflict

Written by:

Heru Subaktianto (002.04.0068), Suwondo Ariyanto (021.04.0017), Ida Bagus Gde

Narayana (021.04.0027), Moh. Attarika S (021.04.0040), Muhammad Fitriadi (021.04.0061)

Mandalika Creative Economy Zones (KEK Mandalika) can be both an

opportunity and a threat where on the one hand there are alternatives to
alleviate Indonesia's economy which has been slowing since the 1997
monetary crisis, on the other hand the threat of conflict due to people
losing their land rights with the development of this area. Each KEK
must meet 3 criteria of readiness no later than 3 years after being
determined, namely (1) land and regional infrastructure; (2) institutional
and human resources; and (3) administrative control devices. The first
criterion is that the readiness of land and land infrastructure is the
biggest obstacle in the development of the tourism KEK, including cases
or disputes that occur in the process of land acquisition for the KEK
Mandalika between the West Nusa Tenggara Provincial Government and
the landowners in the area.

The success of a country in realizing development targets can be

measured, one of which is the success in resolving disputes over land
acquisition for development. The first issue in the KEK Mandalika is that
the price offered by the provincial government for compensation for
residents' land is too low. Legal norms related to land acquisition should
pay more attention to the losses of the community who are willing to give
up their land for development, both for the public interest and for non-
public interests. So far, land acquisition arrangements have not provided
legal certainty to people who are willing to lose their land for development
carried out by the state. The process of land acquisition for the KEK
Mandalika, initially, the purchase of community land by PT Rajawali in
the Mandalika area was carried out since the 1990s. Then there was a
monetary crisis which caused the finance minister at that time to take all
the assets of PT Rajawali, while the land status was being pledged to the
bank. The Minister of Finance then appointed PT Indonesia Tourism
Development Corporation (PT ITDC) as the sole holder of the land in the
Mandalika area with Genuine Management Rights (Hak Pengelolaan
Murni) status. The granting of land rights to each business entity is in
accordance with Article 75 and Article 76 of PP. 96 of 2015 concerning
Facilities and Convenience in KEK. This is where problems begin to arise
in the next mechanism.

The most basic problems in the practice of land acquisition so far

are: (1) the legal complexity involved, the complexity of the
implementation of land acquisition cannot be resolved by Law no. 2 of
2012 because the problem lies in the acquisition of land for land
acquisition from land controlled or owned by individuals or business
entities; (2) deliberation, conceptually deliberation (musyawarah) is a
way to find an agreement in determining the form and amount of
compensation. However, actually the problem is not only in the
deliberation but also in the value of compensation which is not based on
justice for the land-owners; (3) the problem of land value, the problem of
land value in Indonesia is a very complicated matter given the
unavailability of valid and well managed transaction data by a particular
institution. The existing official transaction data, namely the sale and
purchase deed, provides more information that is not in accordance with
the actual transaction price. Likewise, the Sales Value of Tax Objects
(NJOP) only provides information for tax purposes and is often used as a
reference as official data. NJOP cannot describe the true market value;
(4) the institutional land acquisition committee, the membership of the
land acquisition committee which in practice is attached to public
officials in the regional government is functionally ineffective in some
regions. In October 2021, a special task force was formed in the province
of NTB. These four basic problems are also coupled with the existence of
a land mafia that is occult.

Therefore, we recommend several things, including:

1. There is a need for legal certainty for compensation to land-owners

who are willing to provide land for land acquisition for the
development of tourism KEK, such as guarantees for an adequate
amount of compensation, guarantees to be included as investors,
guarantees for employment opportunities, guarantees for a decent
new place to live.
2. It is necessary to supervise land speculators who are often present
when land acquisition process.
3. Supervision/assistance is needed on the implementation of land
acquisition in tourism KEK, especially supervision of compensation
given to people who have lost their land rights due to land acquisition.