Better facilities may cause people to sell their land
Better facilities may cause people to sell their land
JAKARTA (JP): Governor Surjadi Soedirja has urged residents of the city's least-developed neighborhoods not to sell their land and move when the city administration has finished developing their areas.
"The value of land increases as soon as the administration has built various facilities such as roads and water ducts. And the increase in land prices tempts people to sell their property," Surjadi said yesterday.
The governor asked each of the city's mayoralties to intensify efforts to inform the public about this issue.
Surjadi said the administration builds facilities such as roads, water ducts and public transportation in the least- developed areas as part of a program, known as IDT, to improve the standard of living of local residents.
"If they sell their land and move to other slum areas, the goal of the program will not be fulfilled," Surjadi said.
The program is the part of the government's national drive against poverty, as it strives to improve the welfare of an estimated 27 million people, who are still living under the poverty line.
Also under the IDT program, initiated by a presidential decree, each subdistrict or kampung, classified as under- developed, receives an interest-free loan of Rp 20 million (US$9,500). This amount is then distributed to the poorest families within the area, who must in turn repay the money in installments within 10 months.
Residents of eleven subdistricts in Jakarta have received such soft loans: Galur, Cilincing, Kalibaru, Kamal Muara, Kapuk Muara, Tidung Island, Panggang Kelapa Island, Untung Jawa Island, Tegal Alur and Kamal.
Head of City Development Planning Board (Bappeda), Ery Chayaridipura, told reporters yesterday that a total of 9,309 poor families are eligible to receive the funds. As of last month 2,668 families in the 11 subdistricts had received money under the program.
He said the funds to be distributed in the least developed areas are taken from the central government budget and is supplemented by donations from private firms.
"Private companies have donated about Rp 2.95 billion, of which about Rp 2.2 billion has been distributed to 1,095 families," Ery said, adding that the level of funds for the scheme is also maintained through on-going loan repayments.
Ery said that recipients are very serious about repaying the loan. As of January the total funds repaid already amounted to Rp 135.75 million, of which Rp 80.4 million has been redistributed to other poor families.
"There are still 6,495 other families who have yet to receive funds under the program," he said. (yns)