Tangerang sea fence: certificates voided, four convicted, key questions open

Off the coast of Tangerang Regency in Banten, a bamboo fence ran for 30.16 kilometres through the sea. Inside the area it enclosed, the National Land Agency found 263 building rights certificates (SHGB) and 17 freehold certificates (SHM) issued over water. By September 2025 the land minister reported that 50 parcels had been cancelled and 210 had been voluntarily released, Investortrust reported. In January 2026 a corruption court sentenced four people, including the head of Kohod village, to three and a half years in prison.

Those decisions answer some questions about the fence. They leave others, including who paid for it and why, without an official answer. Our issue profile is at Illegal sea fence off Tangerang.

A fence in the sea and certificates over water

The fence became a national issue in January 2025. A joint team of the navy, the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries and local fishermen began dismantling it on 18 January 2025, and a navy marine corps commander said on 13 February that more than 30 kilometres had been removed, Antara reported.

On 22 January 2025, Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning Minister Nusron Wahid said the certificates found outside the coastline were "defective in procedure and material, therefore void by law," Antara reported. He said the area beyond the coastline could not become private property. Under Government Regulation 15/2021, he said, certificates less than five years old can be cancelled without a court order.

The initial check found that PT Intan Agung Makmur held 234 of the 263 SHGB parcels, PT Cahaya Inti Sentosa held 20 and individuals held nine. Investortrust reported that both companies belong to the Agung Sedayu Group and that most of the parcels lie in Kohod village, Pakuhaji district.

What the record shows

Certificates. On 8 September 2025, Nusron told the House of Representatives' Commission II that 50 parcels covering 74.77 hectares had been cancelled, 38 SHGB covering 58.23 hectares and 12 SHM covering 16.52 hectares. Another 210 parcels covering 303.47 hectares had been released voluntarily by their holders, Investortrust reported.

Land officials. On 30 January 2025, Nusron told the same commission that eight land agency employees had been examined by the inspectorate and sanctioned. Six were removed from their posts, including the former head of the Tangerang Regency land office, and two received other heavy sanctions, iNews reported.

Administrative fine. On 27 February 2025, Marine Affairs and Fisheries Minister Sakti Wahyu Trenggono told the House that the ministry had imposed a Rp48 billion administrative fine, based on the fence's size, on a village head and a village official identified as A and T, Metro TV reported. He said both had stated they were willing to pay, and later said they had a maximum of 30 days to do so. A lawyer for the Kohod village head called the fine baseless, Suara Surabaya reported.

Court verdict. On 13 January 2026, the Corruption Court at the Serang District Court convicted Kohod village head Arsin, village secretary Ujang Karta, a lawyer and a journalist under Article 9 of the Anti-Corruption Law. Each was sentenced to three years and six months in prison and fined Rp100 million, or six months' confinement if unpaid, Koran Jakarta reported. The sentence matched what prosecutors had sought. The judges gave both sides time to decide whether to appeal.

What the decisions do not say

The verdict concerns the four defendants. Published accounts of the ruling, including Koran Jakarta's and Mongabay Indonesia's, describe no finding on who funded the fence or on the role of the companies that held certificates. No court has made any finding against PT Intan Agung Makmur, PT Cahaya Inti Sentosa or the Agung Sedayu Group. The group's lawyer, Muannas Alaidid, said all of its clients' SHGB certificates had been obtained in line with the applicable rules, Investortrust reported.

The land ministry's cancellations are administrative decisions about the certificates. They establish that the titles should not have been issued over the sea. They do not, on their own, establish who is criminally responsible for their issuance.

Critics say accountability stopped too low

Gufroni of the legal aid institute of Muhammadiyah's central board called the sentence too light and asked why only the Kohod village head was tried when other village heads were also involved, Mongabay Indonesia reported. Benni Wijaya of the Consortium for Agrarian Reform said village heads and people outside government were "only the lowest operators in the field" and argued that the certificates could not have been issued without state agencies. "If the investigation stops here, the government is only repeating the same patterns in agrarian conflicts," he said.

What remains open

• The fence's purpose and financing. No official body has publicly stated who ordered or paid for the fence.
• The Rp48 billion fine. Public reporting reviewed for this article did not confirm whether it has been paid or enforced.
• The remaining parcels. The land ministry's figures account for 260 of the 280 parcels first identified. Public reports do not explain the status of the rest.
• Criminal liability of officials. Eight land officials were sanctioned administratively. Public reporting reviewed for this article did not show criminal charges against any of them.
• Appeals. No appeal of the January 2026 verdict has been reported in the sources we reviewed.

What to watch

• Whether prosecutors or the police open further proceedings beyond the four people convicted.
• Any appeal ruling from the Banten High Court.
• Whether the land ministry publishes a final account of all certificates in the fenced area.
• Whether the marine ministry enforces its fine.

Officials named here are listed in our officials directory, and the links between the companies and the issue are mapped on the intelligence page.