6 villas in Puncak demolished

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)