Jakarta (ANTARA News) - President Joko Widodo explained that he has not given land to big companies but to local farmers.

"Inequality in terms of land tenure in Indonesia cannot be denied. One person or company owns 200, 300, or 600 thousand hectares of land, yes, but it is not me who gives the concession or permit," the president noted in his statement on Instagram and Twitter social media on Saturday.

According to Jokowi, he has never given a span of land for giant companies.

He explained that during his tenure, the government had given land access to the community.

"Over the past 3.5 years, access to land use has been more beneficial to the local community and local farmers, who can manage them productively through the Social Forestry program, which is still ongoing," the president stated.

According to the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, the government has targeted an allocation of 12.7 million hectares of forest area.

The total achievement of the granting of access to forest management through the Social Forestry Scheme up to March 2018 has reached 1,500,699.53 hectares.

There are three categories of forest rights that can be proposed, namely the rights to the Community Forest, Village Forest, and the People`s Plantation Forest.

The right to forest may be filed by communities above the areas identified in the Social Forest Access Indicative Map.

The social forestry actors are Village Forest Management Institutions (LPHD), Farmers `Groups, Farmers` Associations, Co-operatives, Community Legal Communities (MHAs), and Forest Community Institutions.

Access to Social Forest is aimed at promoting the economy and reducing welfare imbalance through land access, business opportunities, and human resources.

(a021/INE)
(T.SYS/B/KR-BSR/A014)

Reporter: antara
Editor: Heru Purwanto
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