More dwellings being used for commercial activities<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The South Jakarta Building Supervision Office
\nhas listed at least 179 houses in the area as having violated
\nbuilding permits by being used for commercial activities, its
\nhead said on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Head of the office, Irmawati, said businesses being run in the
\nproperties ranged from medical clinics, beauty parlors and cafes
\nto law firms.<\/p>\n
\"Most of them are located in the elite area of Kebayoran Baru,
\nsuch as on Jl. Wijaya, Jl. Barito and Jl. Hang Tuah,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Irmawati added that her office had sent first warning letters
\nto the owners of all the 179 houses to give them an opportunity
\nto close their businesses.<\/p>\n
\"Property owners are only allowed to run businesses in their
\nhomes in residential areas if they are small-scale, with, say
\nonly five employees, and occupy no more than 35 percent of the
\ntotal space of the building,\" she said, referring to City Bylaw
\nNo.7\/1991 on building usage.<\/p>\n
Irma said her office has been keeping records of defiant
\nresidents in South Jakarta since 1994.<\/p>\n
\"So far, we have only been able to seal 14 places, including
\nthe Tee Box Cafe and Millenia Boutique which were closed on
\nWednesday,\" she explained.<\/p>\n
Officials from the South Jakarta mayoralty office, accompanied
\nby local police, sealed off Tee Box Cafe on Jl. Wijaya II in
\nMelawai subdistrict and the Millenia boutique on Jl. Gunawarman
\nin Rawa Barat subdistrict on Wednesday morning for the same
\nreason.<\/p>\n
Both the cafe and the boutique occupied the whole of the
\nbuildings.<\/p>\n
The City Tourism Agency issued a license for a beauty salon
\nand a small cafeteria with five employees to the owner of the Tee
\nBox Cafe, but the owner expanded the business into a cafe
\nemploying 135 workers, Irmawati said.<\/p>\n
As for Millenia Boutique, no city agency has issued a license
\nto its owners, she added.<\/p>\n
The cafe owner, Irmawati said, has asked the city
\nadministration to reopen the cafe and proposed a review of the
\ncity's spatial planning rules, saying the cafe was located just
\nin front of the Grand Wijaya office complex.<\/p>\n
\"Rules are rules. The building is a residential house in a
\nhousing area, where commercial activities are strictly
\nprohibited,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Irmawati, however, admitted that it would not be easy to
\nimmediately close the remaining 179 businesses as they were
\nalready well-established. Some of them employ more than 100
\npeople, she said.<\/p>\n
\"It's the City Tourism Agency's fault for issuing business
\nlicenses to them without directly examining the exact location of
\ntheir proposed businesses and without coordinating with other
\nrelated offices and agencies first,\" Irmawati said.<\/p>\n
But, she added, an exception had been made for the residential
\narea of Kemang since the cafes and other establishments there had
\nturned out to become tourist attractions. The governor has
\ndecided to promote the area as tourist destination, called
\nKampung Modern, she said.<\/p>\n
Several years ago, many house owners in Kemang modified their
\nbuildings into commercial properties, such as cafes, restaurants,
\nand art shops, which resulted in closure orders. (09)<\/p>",
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