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Impatient with the House of Representatives’ lack of action, the Regional Representatives Council is forming a committee to find a solution to the land disputes that have spread across the archipelago and claimed many lives during the last several months.

“We inaugurated the committee during our plenary on Wednesday,” Irman Gusman, speaker of the council known as DPD, said on Thursday.

He said many DPD members had received complaints from their constituents about land disputes across Indonesia.

Irman said the committee would visit regions where disputes had taken place to get to the root of the problems.

Under the law, the DPD cannot directly take action to solve the problems. It can only offer suggestions to the House, which in turn can summon the government to address the issue.

Disputes over land and natural resources between locals and companies have caused deadly violence. From Bima in West Nusa Tenggara to Mesuji in Lampung and Freeport sites in Papua, local people have risen up against corporations they accuse of violating their human rights.

The Commission on Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras) has said that more disputes will erupt unless the government takes action to clear up ownership of the lands and hold criminals responsible.

At the height of the land disputes, House lawmakers took the initiative to suggest a similar committee. More than a month later, it has yet to be formed.

The initiators of the plan, such as Budiman Sudjatmiko of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) and Malik Haramain of the National Awakening Party (PKB) insist it has not been forgotten. 

Jakarta Globe