Low cost housing designs do not appeal to poor<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): One reason behind the unwillingness of former
\nslum dwellers to live in the apartments built for them is the
\ndesign, an architect said.<\/p>\n
To encourage the city's poorest to live in them, the design
\nmust be such that middle class residents are not enticed to buy
\nthem, Johan Silas, an architect who teaches at the Surabaya
\nInstitute of Technology said.<\/p>\n
The smallest, 21-square-meter low cost units in the city's
\napartments consist of one room, a bathroom, a kitchen and a
\nporch.<\/p>\n
Johan said such individual designs \"are middle class oriented
\ndesigns that have been simplified\".<\/p>\n
This explains why many apartment units have been sold to
\nmiddle class people, while the government aims to accommodate
\nslum people, often victims of fires, in healthier housing.<\/p>\n
Johan told The Jakarta Post that if this approach continues
\n\"Slums will never disappear. They just crop up elsewhere. \"<\/p>\n
Over the weekend some of 373 fire victims in Bendungan Hilir,
\nCentral Jakarta, who have rights to new apartment units, said
\nmost of them had sold their rights because they could not afford
\nthe down payment and the monthly installments.<\/p>\n
Only 10 have applied for the apartments, the local sub-
\ndistrict head confirmed.<\/p>\n
As of last year completed units and those under construction
\ntotaled 11,421 units, with plans to build another 27,568 units in
\nthe capital.<\/p>\n
Johan said that designs made in line with the communal way of
\nlife which slum residents are used to, could be more cheaper. But
\nmore important, middle class people would not be attracted to
\nthem, he said.<\/p>\n
A better design for apartment units for slum dwellers would be
\nliving units made separate from communal bathrooms, kitchens and
\nmulti-purpose rooms.<\/p>\n
\"I don't understand why the municipality keeps building
\napartments with the same design,\" Johan said.<\/p>\n
\"The housing ministry has already issued a guideline for
\nregional administrations for the low cost apartment designs,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Low cost apartments in Tangerang, West Java, and another in
\nCengkareng, West Jakarta, built by the state-owned Perumnas
\nhousing company, already follow these guidelines, Johan said.<\/p>\n
In the West Tebet apartments, South Jakarta, only a few
\nfamilies among the 230 fire victims of 1994 moved in recently.
\nThese include a family of an Army member who supplements his
\nwages by renting out small homes, and two civil servants.<\/p>\n
Lili Rashid, a resident, said yesterday most of her former
\nneighbors on the razed site, including vegetable vendors, would
\nnot be able to afford the cheapest units with Rp 25,000 monthly
\ninstallments, and monthly maintenance fees of Rp 40,000.<\/p>\n
Many of the fire victims have rebuilt their homes and shops
\nnear the fire site, refusing the Rp 400,000 provided for one
\nyear's rent allowance.<\/p>\n
\"The government has set compensation for our land at Rp
\n300,000 per square meter,\" said a trader who refused to be
\nidentified.<\/p>\n
\"The compensation for my property would reach only Rp 5
\nmillion. Where do I get the rest to pay for the Rp 12 million
\nunit?\"<\/p>\n
Others who do not own land said they have to come up with a Rp
\n4 million cash down payment, which most of them are not able to
\ndo.<\/p>\n
Another expert, Djoko Sujarto of the Bandung Institute of
\nTechnology, said the economic gap makes it difficult to make unit
\nprices lower, he said.<\/p>\n
The municipality and developers repeatedly insist they cannot
\nmake installments lower despite cross-subsidies.<\/p>\n
However, \"I think given proper calculations, there is a way
\nslum dwellers could afford the units,\" Djoko, an urban designer,
\nsaid. Urban poor make up about 60 percent of those living under
\nthe poverty line, he said.<\/p>\n
The current land compensation policy which does not take into
\naccount the future value of a potentially strategic plot gives
\nthe impression that \"the policy is irrational and inhumane\",
\nDjoko said.<\/p>\n
If the plot is going to be in a central business district,
\ncompensation should take this into account, he said.<\/p>\n
He said compensation should be at least based on the value of
\ntaxable property.<\/p>\n
This way, the poor would not be forced to leave the city,
\nDjoko said.<\/p>\n
\"I wouldn't say the program has failed,\" he said, \"But it may
\nbe a long time before it succeeds.\"<\/p>\n
It is also probable that the developers building the units for
\nthe administration realize that most slum dwellers are not land
\nowners, and will not be able to apply for the units, he said.<\/p>\n
Economic need is the main reason for the numerous transfers of
\napartment ownership rights from former slum dwellers to middle
\nclass people, Djoko said. (yns\/anr)<\/p>",
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