Bogor. Thousands of residents in Bogor Regency, West Java, are at risk of losing their land rights. This threat emerged after hundreds of hectares of land in the area were used as collateral for debts related to the Bank Indonesia Liquidity Assistance (BLBI) case.

The BLBI case was a major financial scandal during the 1997–1998 economic crisis. The government, through Bank Indonesia (BI), provided hundreds of trillions of rupiah in bailout funds to banks that were on the verge of bankruptcy. However, much of the funds were misused by bank owners and never returned to the state. 

The Attorney General’s Office has installed seizure signs in various locations across Sukaharja and Sukamulya villages, Sukamakmur District. These signs were placed on privately owned lands. Not only that, land owned by the Bogor Regency Government, which was planned as a public cemetery area, has also been declared subject to seizure.

Subsequently, hundreds of hectares of land belonging to residents in Sukaharja and Sukamulya villages, Sukamakmur District, were recorded as part of BLBI’s seized assets. A total of 420 hectares of land were claimed as assets of BLBI convict Lee Dharmawan, also known as Lee Chian Kiat, and were included in the Attorney General’s Office seizure list based on Supreme Court Decision Number 1622 K/Pid.Sus/1991. These lands are now in the process of being auctioned.

Residents who became victims were unaware that their lands had been claimed as assets of Lee Dharmawan alias Lee Chian Kiat. As a result, thousands of residents have been subjected to administrative blocks. They cannot process ownership transfers on their Land and Building Tax Notification (SPPT), pay Income Tax (PPh) and Land and Building Rights Acquisition Fees (BPHTB), or apply for land certificates.

Sukaharja Village Secretary, Adi Purwanto, said that this issue has persisted for a long time without legal certainty. As a result, the village has been unable to serve basic land administration needs.

“Since June 2022, the village has been unable to provide land administration services. This includes buying and selling transactions, SPPT, tax payments -- everything has come to a halt,” he said on Tuesday.

Sukaharja Village covers an area of 3,650 hectares with a population of about 8,323 people and over 2,700 families. However, around 420 hectares of land have been included in the BLBI collateral assets. According to village data, private entities only own about 80 hectares of land in the area.

Several residents admitted to being confused by the unilateral seizures. They claimed they had never used their lands as collateral.

Andika, a resident of Sukaharja Village, complained that his name was included in the blocked land map even though he never sold his land.

“The signs were suddenly installed. We never sold our lands to anyone, yet our names appeared on the blocked land map. Even the village authorities don’t know the legal basis for this,” he said.

Andika explained that the disputed land recorded was only 80 hectares. Therefore, only that portion should have been blocked. He felt that residents’ lands had been unlawfully seized. A similar situation was experienced by residents of Sukamulya Village.

Ironically, 20 hectares of land owned by the Bogor Regency Government, planned for use as a public cemetery, was also marked for seizure, even though administratively and legally it is government-owned property.

“If there are specific points truly in dispute, then only those should be blocked. But here, the entire village cannot access land services. This is beyond reason,” Andika added.

Residents said they had reported the case to the Bogor Regency Government, the Indonesian Ombudsman, and the Ministry of Villages, but no real resolution has been made. They urged the central government to immediately intervene.

“This case has been ongoing since 1991. If the land truly belongs to the state, there should be clear legal certainty. Don’t just make claims without proof of sale from residents. This is not merely a dispute -- it concerns the livelihood rights of thousands of people,” Andika stressed.

BLBI was a liquidity assistance facility provided by Bank Indonesia (BI) to banks facing liquidity difficulties due to massive deposit withdrawals during the 1997-1998 monetary crisis. The initial aim of BLBI was to maintain the stability of Indonesia’s payment system and banking sector.

Add as a preferred source on Google +