Sutiyoso's Puncak hideaway gets the wrecker's ball<\/p>\n
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
In the face of strong public criticism, Governor Sutiyoso, who
\nwas found to be the owner of a villa in the catchment area of
\nmountainous Puncak resort in Bogor regency, West Java, finally
\ndemolished the structure on Saturday morning.<\/p>\n
The villa, located in Kampung Citamiang, Tugu Utara village,
\nCisarua district, was demolished by dozens of locals, witnessed
\nby village chief, Jajat Sudrajat, and other local officials.<\/p>\n
Jajat stunned the public with his announcement last Monday
\nthat Sutiyoso was one of several former top military officials
\nwho owned villas in Puncak. The villas were built on state land
\nand had no building permits.<\/p>\n
Puncak, along with nearby resort areas of Bogor and Cianjur,
\nwas first designated as a catchment area to protect Jakarta from
\nthe overflow of rivers coming from Bogor, with the issuance of a
\npresidential decree by Sukarno in 1963.<\/p>\n
But many top officials in the government and military have
\nviolated the decree, which has been renewed several times. Some
\nuse their real names, while others use the name of family members
\non the ownership documents.<\/p>\n
The uncontrolled development of villas and other commercial
\nbuildings in the area started in the 1980s.<\/p>\n
There are at least 2,000 villas in Megamendung and Cisarua
\ndistricts in Puncak. Forty percent of them were built in
\nprotected areas and do not have building permits, according to
\nAntara.<\/p>\n
Sutiyoso's villa measuring 100 square meters was located on a
\none-hectare plot about seven kilometers from the main road, while
\nthe road to his villa was on a 45 degree slope.<\/p>\n
Blushing with embarrassment, Sutiyoso admitted on Tuesday that
\nhe bought the villa when he was the Bogor Military commander in
\n1994. He defended himself, saying that his wooden villa was built
\non stilts and therefore did not affect water catchment. He
\nclaimed he never visited the villa because he was \"allergic\" to
\ncold weather.<\/p>\n
Since the disclosure of his ownership of the villa, the road
\nheading to the spot has been tightly guarded by men who
\nbarricaded the road one kilometer from the villa.<\/p>\n
Sutiyoso had said that he would not object to his villa being
\ndemolished, as long as other villas were also demolished.<\/p>\n
On Saturday, workers did not touch the nearby villa belonging
\nto former Indonesian Military chief Wiranto. But Jajat said that
\nabout 30 buildings would be demolished.<\/p>\n
Wiranto's villa, made of concrete, was about 120 square meters
\nand built on a 5,000 square meter property.<\/p>",
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