6 villas in Puncak demolished

BOGOR (JP): Six luxury villas in Puncak Hilly Resort, Bogor, were torn down Saturday, raising the total number of villas demolished this year to 123.

Four of the problematic villas were demolished by the Bogor regency's public order officers while the other two were leveled by their own owners, the Antara news agency reported.

The owners of the six villas which were located in Tugu Utara village, Cisarua district, are all Jakarta residents.

The demolition started at about 4 a.m., but ran slowly because of the limited availability of officers and equipment.

The villas' strong construction also caused difficulties in the demolition so that it took about four hours to complete.

Bogor Regional Inspector Fauzi Siin said the villas were torn down because some of them were located in conservation and water catchment areas, while the others did not have any building permits.

Fauzi, who is also head of the operation team, said the demolition of villas in the Puncak area was conducted once a month.

"We have sent letters to the owners asking them to demolish their problematic villas themselves," he was quoted by Antara as saying.

He said his officers were forced to demolish the villas if their owners gave no response to three warning letters.

At least 285 illegal villas in the regency are included in the waiting list for demolition. Most of them are built on hills with a slope of 30 degrees. (jun)