Legal Aspects of Granting Land Rights for the Bajo Tribe in the Coastal Areas of Indonesia

Abstract

The Bajo Tribe is a traditional society living in coastal areas of Indonesia in East Kalimantan, South Kalimantan, South Sulawesi, Southeast Sulawesi, West Nusa Tenggara, East Nusa Tenggara. For centuries, they existed as marine nomads, but more recently have established permanent settlements in coastal areas which often protrude into the sea. The Indonesian constitution guarantees the rights of each citizen to have a place of residence. As the form of legal certainty, the national government issues deeds, which guarantees rights over land to the people of the Bajo Tribe in the form of the Building Use Rights. This research is a legal research under normative juridical methods regarding the approach of laws and regulations (statute approach). Research results demonstrate that any rights over land granted in coastal areas do not conform to Law Number 5 of 1960 regarding the Basic Agrarian Law (hereinafter called UUPA) as the legal grounds of national land. Regulations on land ownership and usage after Law Number 11 of 2020 regarding the Omnibus Law cause legal uncertainty, as they do not conform to previous concepts and principles contained in UUPA. Overlapping land regulations in Indonesia require the state to harmonize and synchronize conflicts. Consequently, land rights cannot be granted for coastal areas for people such as the Bajo Tribe who may have occupied them for generations. A more appropriate settlement is to use utilization permits with certain criteria. Settlements constructed by the Bajo people in the coastal areas must take into account zoning and marine spatial plans. These plans should prioritize ecosystem balance and address the management of waste generated by these settlements Coastal areas are shared resources and can be used by anyone through the principles of common property and open access.

Keywords:

• Coastal area
• land rights
• rights over land

Acknowledgements

Padjadjaran University in Indonesia requires each doctoral student to write an article in a reputable international journal, and it is indexed in Scopus with published status. This article is a part to fulfill above requirement. The author would like to express their gratitude and sincere appreciation to Directorate of Research and Community Engagement Padjadjaran University for proofread the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

The authors report there are no competing interests to declare.