Revision and Harmonization Plan for Regulation 18/2021 and Regulation 26/2021

The Minister of Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning (“ATR”)/ Head of the National Land Agency (“BPN”), Nusron Wahid, is pushing for the revision of Regulation of the Government (“Regulation”) No. 18 of 2021 on Right-to-Manage, Land Titles, Multistory Housing Units, and Land Registration (“Regulation 18/2021”) and Regulation No. 26 of 2021 on the Organization of Agriculture Sector, as amended by Regulation No. 52 of 2023 (collectively referred to as “Regulation 26/2021”). The revision aims to clarify the definition of plasma land distribution.

“In the current definition of plasma, there is indeed no synchronization between one regulation and another,” said Nusron.

According to him, there are differences in theory regarding the definition of plasma in the two Regulations. The understanding of the Ministry of ATR/BPN in Regulation 18/2021 is that plasma must be within a concession. This means that if someone obtains a 10,000-hectare Right-to-Cultivate (“HGU”) concession, then 2,000 hectares must be for plasma.

Meanwhile, in Regulation 26/2021, land outside the HGU concession is not plasma. This regulatory ambiguity must be harmonized so as not to harm the community. “This plasma issue is a source of injustice where farmers do not have access to the land around the plantation,” said Nusron.