Bambang wants govt offices moved to his township
JAKARTA (JP): Bambang Trihatmodjo, President Soeharto's second son, said he would try to get the central government to move some of its offices to a township his company will build in Jonggol, near Bogor, West Java.
Bambang, the chairman of the widely-diversified Bimantara Group, said over the weekend he would also ask the government to move the Senayan sports complex in Central Jakarta to the township.
In addition, he said, he would ask the government to relocate the Safari garden near the 30,000-hectare site of the planned township.
"We will soon propose the township project to President Soeharto," he told Bisnis Indonesia daily.
State Minister for Housing Affairs Akbar Tanjung said yesterday that he was unaware of Bambang's proposal to relocate the central government's offices to his planned township.
"I have not heard about the plan," he told journalists after the opening of the national congress of the Association of Indonesian Developers.
A consortium of Bambang's company and the Kaestindo business group will develop the Bukit Jonggol Indah (BJI) township.
No details on the massive project or the possible relocation deal are available.
Kaestindo group president Haryadi Kumala said the consortium had planning permission to develop the town, some 40 kilometers west of Jakarta.
He said that half of the 30,000 hectare site would contain residential and office buildings.
"The remaining 15,000 hectares will be appropriated for tourist resorts, forests and farming," Haryadi said, adding that the master plan of the township was being drafted.
He said the site had been cleared, but refused to say when construction would start.
Besides the planned township in Jonggol, Bimantara and several local companies are developing a large residential project in Sentul, also near Bogor.
The government has permitted several other property developers to develop residential projects near Jonggol.
Ciputra Group, for example, has been awarded a license to develop a 12,000-hectare township, Sinar Mas Group (600 hectares), Putra Surya Perkasa (350 hectares) and Gunung Subur Sentosa (200 hectares). (hen)