Jakarta (ANTARA) - A Presidential regulation on land acquisition for public infrastructure construction is still on the table and is expected to be ready in the near future.

The ongoing discussion involves various stakeholders, including the National Agrarian Agency (BPN), said Julian Aldrin Pasha, a spokesman of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, here on Tuesday.

The Presidential regulation is needed for the implementation of the Law No. 2/2012 article 56 on Land Acquisition for Development of Public Facilities, which was passed by the House of Representatives (DPR) on December 16 and has been in effect from January 14, 2012.

The new regulation to be signed and issued by President Yudhoyono is expected to make it easier for the Indonesian government to acquire land for infrastructure projects.

The government plans to spend US$7 billion on infrastructure projects, which include construction of about 20,000 kilometres of new roads and 15,000 megawatts of energy produced by new power plants.

Lack of infrastructure results in bottlenecks, hampering future growth opportunities, said Karsten Fuelster, International Finance Corporation (IFC) senior investment officer, recently.

IFC has predicted that the law, together with Indonesia`s recent credit rating upgrade, which makes fundraising cheaper, will help jump-start infrastructure investments this year.
(Uu.F001/INE/KR-BSR/S012)

Editor: Priyambodo RH
Copyright © ANTARA 2012