This is the Indonesian Province with the Highest Number of Land Conflict Cases.

According to data compiled by Tanahkita.id, between 1988 and July 2023, 562 land conflict cases were recorded in Indonesia.

These conflicts, spanning this period, involved disputed land totaling approximately 5.16 million hectares and resulted in an estimated 868,500 casualties.

Between 1988 and July 2023, the highest number of land conflicts occurred in Central Kalimantan Province, with 126 cases.

A significant number of cases also occurred in South Sulawesi, Central Sulawesi, West Kalimantan, North Sumatra, Riau, Southeast Sulawesi, East Java, Central Java, and West Java, as shown in the graph.

Tanahkita.id also notes that between 1988 and July 2023, domestic land conflicts were most prevalent in the plantation sector, with 286 cases. Land disputes were also widespread in production forests (84 cases), mining areas (62 cases), conservation forests (37 cases), protected forests (33 cases), infrastructure projects (14 cases), and transmigration areas (11 cases).

The Rempang Case Adds to Indonesia's Land Conflict List

Indonesia's list of land conflict cases has recently grown, although these are not yet recorded in Tanahkita.id's database.

A recent conflict occurred on Rempang Island, Batam, Riau Islands Province, in early September 2023.

On Thursday, September 7, 2023, Rempang residents clashed with a joint force of the Indonesian National Armed Forces (TNI), the Indonesian National Police (Polri), the Satpol PP (regional public order agency), and the Batam Free Trade Zone Authority (BP Batam) security directorate.

The clash stemmed from residents' rejection of the National Strategic Project (PSN) for the Rempang Eco-City, managed by the government through BP Batam.

According to the Batam City Communications and Information Office (Kominfo Batam), the Rempang Eco-City project will gradually relocate approximately 2,700 families from 16 villages on Rempang.

To encourage relocation, the government offered each family a 45-square-meter house on a 500-square-meter plot of land.

"The government will also build public facilities (in the relocation area) such as places of worship, schools, football fields, a port, a market, a community health center, and others," said Batam Mayor Muhammad Rudi in a press release on the Kominfo Batam website on Tuesday, September 12, 2023.

"We will build a port (in the relocation area) so that people can continue to fish; everything will be built, including a police station and a sub-district office," he added.

According to the Batam Mayor, some Rempang residents have accepted the relocation offer.

However, others have refused. One of them is Ridwan, a 60-year-old Rempang resident who participated in the clash with the authorities.

"I just want to defend my village from being evicted, so I joined (the clash with the authorities)," said Ridwan in an interview with Mongabay on Friday, September 8, 2023.

Batam Mayor Muhammad Rudi continues to try to persuade Rempang residents to relocate.

"We are still trying to engage in dialogue with the community; hopefully, it will be resolved quickly," said Rudi on Tuesday, September 12, 2023.