Bekasi moves office to Delta Mas

BEKASI: Not all residents know that the office of the Bekasi administration moved to the Delta Mas residential suburb, Sukamahi village, Cikarang, early this month.

Regent Saleh Manaf claimed on Thursday the move was aimed at "getting closer to the residents". He said all services would be ready in August.

The new office is built on a 40-hectare site granted by Delta Mas management, a subsidiary of the Sinar Mas Group, owned by one of the country's large debtors, Eka Tjipta Wijaya. The 3,000- hectare Delta Mas area is projected by the company to become the new Bekasi City.

The administration spent Rp 100 billion (US$11.1 million) from its budget on construction of the office buildings. The remaining 15 hectares of the site will be transformed into a residential compound for government officials.

The new City Hall is located around 50 kilometers from the old one, but can only be reached via the Jakarta to Cikampek toll road, while residents from North Bekasi need to take a two-and-a- half-hour trip by car to get to the new office.--JP