Third Economic Policy Package Facilitates Infrastructure Development

Jakarta (Antara Bali) - Indonesia's Public Works and Public Housing Minister Basuki Hadimuljono said the third economic policy package that simplifies licensing procedures for land utilization would facilitate infrastructure development.

"Cutting red tape and simplifying land procurement will facilitate infrastructure development," Basuki Hadimuljono said here on Monday.

According to him, simplifying the licensing process for land utilization entailed huge benefits, especially for land acquisition in forest areas.

This simplification is part of the revision of Ministerial Regulation No. 2 of 2015 on agrarian service standard, spatial layout and land affairs related to investment.

"The implementation of this policy should be supported by the local government," the minister said.

Earlier, the Indonesian government had streamlined the procedure of licensing the use of investment-related land through the third phase of economic policy package announced on Wednesday.

The streamlining of the licensing procedure results from the revision of ministerial regulation number 2 of 2015 on agrarian service standard, spatial layout and land affairs related to investment, Agrarian and Spatial Layout Minister Ferry Mursyidan Baldan, who is also chief of the National Land Agency, had said at a press conference here last Wednesday.

Under the new economic policy package, any application for information about available land can now be processed within three hours, instead of seven days as stipulated earlier, he said.

After the application has been officially filed, the land will be marked, meaning that no other investor will then be able to use it, he said.

Such reservation or marking of land will be valid for 14 working days if the related investor does not immediately complete the requirements to apply for an investment permit, the minister said.

Under the package, any application for land-cultivation permit (HGU) for land area up to 200 hectares can be processed within 20 working days and for land covering an area of above 200 hectares within 45 working days, instead of 30-90 working days as stipulated earlier.

The time taken to process an application for extended or renewed land-cultivation permit has also been shortened to seven working days for land covering an area up to 200 hectares and 14 working days for above 200 hectares, from 20-50 working days previously, he said.

The period of applying for a right-to-build (HGB) certificate has also been shortened to 20 working days for land area up to 15 hectares and to 30 working days for above 15 hectares, from 20-50 working days previously.

The government has also shortened the period for applying for extended or renewed HGB certificate to five working days for land covering an area of up to 15 hectares and to seven working days for more than 15 hectares, from 20-50 working days. (WDY)