Transparency on spatial plan badly needed: Expert<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Councilors and a city spatial expert urged
\nGovernor Sutiyoso's administration on Sunday to prepare and
\npublicize details soon on its new spatial plan to avoid the
\npossibility of violations, which were rampant in the past.<\/p>\n
Contacted separately by The Jakarta Post, councilors Lukman
\nMokoginta, Ali Wongso Sinaga and city spatial expert M.
\nDhanisworo said that if the public had access to such detailed
\ninformation, they could carry out their control function
\nproperly.<\/p>\n
Lukman insisted that transparency should be the most crucial
\nstep to accompany the plan in a bid to achieve a consistent
\nspatial plan for Indonesia's capital, Jakarta.<\/p>\n
\"In the past, people found it difficult to access information
\non the plan. Such difficulties even occurred for city councilors
\nand up to now the administration never exposes the evaluation on
\nthe spatial plan,\" he said.<\/p>\n
For that reason, he said, the council has no data on the
\nnumber of violations of city spatiality and, worse, the plan's
\nimplementation was also uncontrollable.<\/p>\n
He also suggested the administration draft a detailed spatial
\nplan for district and subdistrict levels soon.<\/p>\n
A newly enacted bylaw only regulates spatial plans for
\nprovincial and mayoralty levels.<\/p>\n
According to Dhanisworo, one of the few city spatial experts,
\nthe administration should publicize the detailed plan in sections
\nthrough mass media or print booklets or some other kind of
\npublication to be freely distributed to the public.<\/p>\n
\"By doing so, we hope the control mechanism will work
\nproperly,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Dhanisworo reminded officials of the related institutions in
\nthe administration to first have a similar view on the spatial
\nplan before spreading it to the people.<\/p>\n
\"Based on my experience, sometimes the institutions have
\ndifferent policies on planning.<\/p>\n
\"For instance, the city planning agency's policy has different
\nviews with that of the city development control agency,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Last week, the council endorsed a bylaw on the city spatial
\nplan, effective through 2010, with the spirit to tightly control
\nthe implementation that a compensation mechanism for \"permitted\"
\nviolations, like the absence of providing green areas, would no
\nlonger be permitted.<\/p>\n
The bylaw also stipulates that the spatial plan should be
\nevaluated every five years.<\/p>\n
Councilor Ali said the spirit of transparency had, indeed,
\nbeen stipulated in the newly endorsed city spatial plan bylaw.<\/p>\n
\"The bylaw clearly regulates that the spatial plan should be
\nvisual in certain places at every district and subdistrict to
\nfacilitate people who need information,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He added that the administration could also publicize it
\nthrough books sold at bookstores.<\/p>\n
In the past, only property developers and high-ranking city
\nofficials knew details of the plan. Therefore, it was only them
\nwho knew which developers had breached, for example, the original
\nplan of certain area, giving great opportunities for both
\nofficials and businesspeople to settle violations out of court.<\/p>\n
According to Lukman, it was difficult to punish violators in
\nthe past since it was a collective violation.<\/p>\n
\"There are too many parties involved in spatial plan
\nviolations, which would mean spending a lot of time imposing
\npunishment. Moreover, violations occurred not merely due to
\nadministration faults but because sometimes there was also
\npressure from 'above',\" he said, referring to VVIPs in the city
\nadministration and central government.<\/p>\n
Previously, city councilors and city spatial experts supported
\nthe administration's policy of allowing buildings whose
\nconstruction breached existing spatial plan, saying that
\ndemolition of such buildings would not benefit the city. (ind)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/transparency-on-spatial-plan-badly-needed-expert-1447893297",
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