285 villas to be demolished

BOGOR (JP): Two hundred and eighty-five illegal buildings in Puncak will be torn down and the land restored as a conservation area, an official says.

"These buildings and villas have no permits. They were built in conservation areas," spokesman for the Bogor administration, Ibrahim Abubakar, said here Monday.

He said the administration would rebuild the area to be more in line with the city planning.

"A team in charge of cracking down on illegal buildings has been formed. Demolitions are a matter of time," Abubakar said as quoted by Antara.

The Bogor administration regularly checks on the legality of buildings in Puncak, a mountain resort popular among Jakartans. Many villas and recreational facilities in Puncak are owned by wealthy people from Jakarta.

In 1997, six luxury houses built without permits were torn down.

"We have sent written warnings to owners of the illegal villas and if they don't demolish the buildings, the team will," Abubakar said.