Residents hold out for higher canal compensation<\/p>\n
Bambang Nurbianto, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Residents whose land will be affected by the East Flood Canal
\nproject are insisting the city administration meet their
\ncompensation demands, despite being given a six-month deadline to
\naccept the price being offered by the city.<\/p>\n
If the deadline passes with no resolution to the stalemate,
\nthe administration has said that it will ask the president to
\nrevoke the residents' land ownership rights.<\/p>\n
Kotip, a 54-year-old resident of Cipinang Besar Selatan
\nsubdistrict, East Jakarta, said over the weekend the land owners
\nhad proposed compensation of Rp 2 million (US$225) per square
\nmeter. That figure is much higher than the taxable value of
\nproperty in the area, which is about Rp 500,000 per square meter.<\/p>\n
\"We are open to negotiations, though,\" said the civil servant
\nwho owns a 250-square-meter plot of land, adding though that
\nresidents would not accept less than Rp 1 million per square
\nmeter.<\/p>\n
Kotip said most residents opposed a decree issued by Governor
\nSutiyoso in late April, which states that the central government
\nhas the right to seize the land if residents reject a
\n\"reasonable\" compensation offer.<\/p>\n
He also said residents had been informed of a plan to
\nconstruct a flood canal in the area as long ago as the 1980s, but
\nno action was ever taken. So when talk of the flood canal
\nresurfaced several years ago, residents did not take it
\nseriously.<\/p>\n
The administration has acquired just 50.8 hectares of land, or
\n16 percent of the 316 hectares required for the planned Rp 4.124-
\ntrillion canal. It has allocated Rp 150 billion in the 2004 city
\nbudget to acquire more land for the project.<\/p>\n
The 23.5-kilometer-long canal, which will stretch from
\nCipinang in East Jakarta to Marunda in North Jakarta when
\ncompleted, is expected to help ease flooding in the eastern part
\nof the city.<\/p>\n
Projected to be 100 meters wide and five meters deep, the
\ncanal will link the Cipinang, Sunter, Jati Kramat, Buaran and
\nCakung rivers.<\/p>\n
Aminah, who owns a 100-square-meter plot of land in Cipinang
\nBesar Selatan subdistrict, demanded the administration increase
\nits compensation offer so she could afford to buy a new house
\nnearby.<\/p>\n
\"Some officials from the administration measured my land and
\neven counted the trees, but they did not make an offer,\" she
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
A subdistrict official, Thamrin, said some residents remained
\nunconvinced that the administration was serious about purchasing
\ntheir land.<\/p>\n
The Rp 150 billion allocated in the 2004 city budget will be
\nused by the East Jakarta municipality to acquire 183.3 hectares
\nof land in 11 subdistricts.<\/p>\n
The municipality administrative division head, Lukman Hakim,
\nsaid officials hoped to finish the land acquisition process by
\nthe end of this year.<\/p>\n
\"So far, we have only listed some plots of lands in the
\nCipinang Besar Selatan and Pondok Bambu subdistricts,\" he said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/residents-hold-out-for-higher-canal-compensation-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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