Jakarta, January 2, 2025 – The Europe Today: The Ministry of Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning is intensifying efforts to accelerate the certification of waqf (endowment) land and land for places of worship in 2025.
Minister Nusron Wahid revealed on Wednesday that only 41 percent of the 655,238 waqf land plots across Indonesia have been registered, emphasizing the need for expedited efforts. “This number is still very small compared to the existing potential, which necessitates acceleration,” Wahid stated.
In 2024, the Ministry certified 15,093 waqf land plots, a number Wahid deemed insufficient. He stressed the importance of increasing the certification rate to ensure that all waqf land in Indonesia is fully registered.
One key initiative proposed by Wahid is the establishment of dedicated service counters at each Land Office to handle waqf land certification. “For waqf land, certification has been hindered by lengthy processes, including the lack of documents from donors or heirs. We plan to improve the digitization system to make the process faster and more transparent,” he said.
The certification of waqf land is crucial for providing legal certainty for land used for places of worship. This effort aligns with the priority programs outlined in Indonesia’s National Medium-Term Development Plan (RPJMN), which focuses on ensuring harmony between religious communities, safeguarding freedom of worship, and supporting the establishment and maintenance of places of worship.
Wahid also noted that non-tax state revenue from land services in 2024 reached Rp2.9 trillion (around US$178.6 million), with the Ministry providing eight million services to the public, including the issuance of electronic certificates.
This initiative is part of the Ministry’s broader efforts to enhance land administration and ensure legal certainty for religious institutions and their facilities across Indonesia.
