Farmers from five villages in South Konawe are asking the government to clarify the legal status of land they occupy and use in forest areas, with SPKS urging a transparent, cross-agency resolution process.
PALMOILMAGAZINE, JAKARTA — Land tenure disputes involving communities in forest areas in South Konawe (Konawe Selatan), Southeast Sulawesi, have been brought to the national level, as the Serikat Petani Kelapa Sawit (SPKS) and farmers from five villages seek legal certainty over land they have occupied and cultivated.
The farmers met with members of Commission IV of the Indonesian House of Representatives (DPR RI) in Jakarta on Tuesday (Sept. 29, 2026), calling for the legislature to facilitate a resolution involving relevant ministries and government agencies.
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According to a statement received by PalmOilMagazine on Thursday (Oct. 1), the delegation was received by Commission IV member Jaelani. The meeting provided an opportunity for residents to present their concerns over land they claim is located within designated forest areas and to request parliamentary oversight of the resolution process.
SPKS Chairman Sabarudin said the issue cannot be addressed by a single institution because it involves the legal status of the forest area, the history of land occupation, and the need to establish legal certainty for local communities.
“Our hope is that Commission IV of the DPR RI will oversee the aspirations of the communities in these five villages and encourage a clear, transparent resolution process that involves the affected communities,” Sabarudin said.
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The five villages are Wulele Jaya, Wonua Maroa, Anggokoti, Adayu Indah and Kosambi, located in Buke and Benua districts of South Konawe.
Six Key Demands for Land Resolution
During the meeting, the communities submitted six main demands to Commission IV.
First, they asked the DPR RI to oversee and facilitate the resolution of land occupation within forest areas in coordination with the Ministry of Forestry. They also urged the government to prioritize the issue as part of its land-tenure resolution agenda.
The communities further called for the government to disclose documents underlying the designation of forest areas covering the five villages. The requested documents include forest designation decrees, forest maps, boundary demarcation records, mapping results and forest gazettement documents.
They said access to the underlying data is essential to enable the status and boundaries of the forest areas to be jointly examined and verified.
Another demand concerns areas previously proposed through the Inventory and Verification for the Resolution of Land Tenure in Forest Areas (Inver PPTKH) process. The communities are asking that these areas be incorporated into the Indicative Map of Land for Agrarian Reform (TORA) and subsequently processed through the agrarian reform mechanism.
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They also called for the Inver PPTKH Team and the Agrarian Reform Task Force (GTRA) to be reactivated, with participation from the Southeast Sulawesi provincial government, the South Konawe administration, the Ministry of Forestry and the Ministry of Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning/National Land Agency (ATR/BPN).
The process, they said, should include identification of affected communities and land parcels, field verification, examination of land-tenure histories, verification of ownership or occupation evidence, and synchronization of government data and maps.
Communities Ask DPR RI to Verify Conditions on the Ground
The communities also asked Commission IV to conduct a working visit to the five villages.
They argued that direct field verification is necessary to establish the actual conditions of land occupation and use, while allowing residents to present documents and other information concerning the land they occupy.
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The communities further asked the DPR RI to oversee coordination among the Ministry of Forestry, the Southeast Sulawesi provincial government, the South Konawe administration and ATR/BPN until a clear resolution mechanism is established for areas and individual land parcels that remain disputed.
They emphasized that the process should be based on transparency, community participation and joint verification.
Jaelani Pledges Follow-Up
Responding to the communities’ demands, Jaelani said he would follow up on the issues raised and indicated plans to visit the five villages to assess conditions and land-tenure issues directly.
Jaelani said resolving land and forest-area disputes requires data and information that can be independently verified. Such verification, he said, would help ensure that discussions at the national level can focus on more concrete resolution measures.
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For SPKS and the affected communities, a field visit could provide an opportunity to reconcile government records with conditions on the ground. The resulting verification could then serve as a basis for coordination among government institutions in determining an appropriate resolution mechanism in accordance with applicable laws and regulations.
The statement of aspirations submitted to Commission IV was signed by representatives of Wulele Jaya, Wonua Maroa, Anggokoti, Adayu Indah and Kosambi villages, together with SPKS Chairman Sabarudin.
The communities said they expect the follow-up to extend beyond the submission of their demands to include field verification, data synchronization and inter-agency coordination, with the ultimate objective of establishing legal certainty over the land-tenure issues they face. (P2)
