Apartments are the last choice: Professor

Apartments are the last choice: Professor

JAKARTA (JP): Low-cost apartments are not the only way to
solve the city's housing problem, Johan Silas, a professor of the
Surabaya-based Technology Institute, said yesterday.

"We should only use low-cost apartments if there are no other
feasible alternatives available in a location," Johan told
reporters during a break of a two-day seminar on Crowdedness and
Health.

The seminar was held by the United Nations Center for Human
Settlements, in cooperation with the City Housing Office, the
Urban Health Study Group of the Atmajaya University and
COWIConsult.

The meeting, which was attended by about 100 participants, was
aimed at discussing and disseminating the results of a study on
population crowdedness and health.

Johan said that other alternatives to solve the housing
problems are the kampong improvement program, which was
introduced for the first time in 1968 in Jakarta and Surabaya,
and the construction of double-story houses.

He said that even though it is not formally stated, the
Indonesian housing policy has a dualistic character. On the one
hand it helps people who cannot afford to buy their own houses
and on the other hand it provides funds for the improvement of
public facilities in kampongs, whose residents have built their
houses without any subsidy from the government.

However, he admitted that there are certain circumstances
where the construction of low-cost apartments is a must.

"Apartments are not the best alternative but there are certain
conditions where they are needed, especially in crowded areas,"
he added.

Ongky Sukasah, head of the City Housing Office, said at the
seminar, "The low-cost apartment concept is still new to all of
us but society has already had the initiative to ask for the
facilities from the government, such as the one in the Bendungan
Hilir subdistrict, Central Jakarta. The local residents, for
example, asked Minister of Public Housing to build low-cost
apartments."

He said that many experts from other countries made Jakarta as
a model, to solve their housing problems.

"The experts wonder why Jakarta, a city with a high
population, still manages to control the situation in the city,
naturally. They want to know the kind of policy introduced by the
city administration," Ongky said.

Answering a question on the many reports of land disputes, due
to low compensation from developers of low-cost apartment
projects, Johan said, "They happen because the developers do not
involve the society in decision making. If they involve local
residents, there will be no problems," Johan said. (31)