1 | Comments 0 Thirteen of the small Gili Islands that encircle Lombok, Indonesia have been sold illegally to private individuals, companies, and for

1 | Comments 0

Thirteen of the small Gili Islands that encircle Lombok, Indonesia have been sold illegally to private individuals, companies, and foreigners, officials recently alleged.

Mahrip, the deputy distric head of West Lombok district in West Nusa Tenggara said that the islands had been fraudulently sold despite being listed as government officials, the Jakarta Globe reported.

Ispan Junaidi, a spokesman for the West Lombok administration, backed the claim, saying the National Land Agency (BPN) had issued title deeds for several of the islands. He said this included the 30.5-hectare Gili Rengit, with the deed listing a Bali resident as its owner. 

By law, however, an individual may only own a maximum five hectares of contiguous land in a given district.

For the Gilis, a 1966 government regulation restricts that to 600 square meters, with a maximum 30-year period of use. A 2007 government regulation clarifies that outright private ownership of small islands is prohibited because they are considered state property.

“What the law allows is for individuals to manage the land, not own it,” Ispan said. “The BPN should only be issuing HGB [right to use] certificates for land on those islets, not SHM [title deeds], and certainly not to foreigners.”

Udin Syafrudin, head of the West Lombok branch of the BPN, denied that his office had ever issued title deeds to individuals for the Gilis off Sekotong. 

“We have, however, issued deeds for multiple ownership for Gilis that have more than one owner,” he said. “Individual ownership of a Gili is forbidden.”

He declined to explain why his office was issuing title deeds in violation of the 1966 regulation. 

He cited Gili Layar, a 55.7-hectare islet, as one such case of multiple ownership. He said the BPN had issued 60 title deeds for the 60 co-owners of the islet. 

“That doesn’t violate any regulations because it’s not single ownership,” Udin said.

However, a source familiar with the issue told the Jakarta Globe that the entire islet was in the ownership of a single person, identified only as M.D., a West Lombok businessman. 

The source said Gili Layar and 12 others were currently believed to be under individual ownership, including by foreigners and corporations. 

The source said these 13 islets were the focus of a long-running investigation for document fraud by law-enforcement officials, but declined to identify which agency was carrying in the probe.

Udin also claimed ignorance of claims that foreigners had been issued title deeds. Under Indonesian law, foreign ownership of land is prohibited. “I don’t have any data on that yet,” he said.

According to the BPN, the islets of Layar, Sudak, Asahan and Rengit have been issued title deeds, all for multiple owners. 

Gili Poh has been divided into two lots, for one of which a title deed has been issued and for the other an HBG certificate. 

Two others, Gili Nanggu and Gili Tangkong, have also been issued HGB certificates. 

Allegations of the sale of the islets have been raised in the past. Some of the Gilis have also appeared on Web sites offering holiday islands for sale.