Agency closes down 55 Benhil apartments<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The city housing agency has closed 55 low-cost
\napartments in Bendungan Hilir (Benhil), Central Jakarta, because
\ntheir owners had sold the units.<\/p>\n
Ongky Sukasah, head of the agency, said yesterday the action
\nwas a continuation of the agency's recent operation to encourage
\nowners to use their apartments.<\/p>\n
Ongky said there were 120 other units which would be closed
\nsoon.<\/p>\n
He said the agency would give the closed units to other people
\nwho were still living in slums.<\/p>\n
Ongky said the agency took the action because the main goal of
\nthe administration's low-cost apartments was to provide better
\nhousing for the needy, especially those who live in slums.<\/p>\n
\"Half of the price of the apartments was subsidized by the
\nadministration in an effort to help eligible people afford to buy
\nthe apartments. The program will not serve its purpose if they
\nsell the apartment to other people,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Ongky said his office would take similar action in other low-
\ncost apartments built by the administration, like Tambora in West
\nJakarta, if it found the original owners had sold the apartments.<\/p>\n
The agency carried out the operation in Bendungan Hilir after
\npress reports that most owners had sold their apartments.<\/p>\n
The sale of the apartments is illegal because the residents'
\ncontracts prohibits owners selling the apartments if they have
\nnot lived there for five years.<\/p>\n
The residents are also required to move into the apartment
\nwithin three months of getting the keys from the agency. Most of
\nthe residents got their keys in May this year.<\/p>\n
However, six months after the keys were given about 30 percent
\nof the apartments are still unoccupied.<\/p>\n
The Bendungan Hilir complex was built in 1994 on a plot of
\nland which used to be a slum area.<\/p>\n
The city administration has been intensifying the development
\nof low-cost apartments in the city in an effort to provide decent
\nhousing for Jakartans who live in shanties in slum areas.<\/p>\n
Since 1985 the administration has built 12,356 units of low-
\ncost apartment. (yns)<\/p>",
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