Boarding houses have no permit

JAKARTA: Mushrooming boarding houses in the Lenteng Agung area in South Jakarta, -- where many university campuses are located -- have allegedly been set up without a permit from the subdistrict office.

"Many boarding house owners here don't have a permit (from the subdistrict office)," said one of the residents, Yudi, as quoted by BeritaJakarta.com over the weekend.

Iwan, another local resident, said that none of the subdistrict officials had ever checked the permits at local boarding houses.

"I haven't seen any officials from the subdistrict office come to the boarding houses asking to see the permits," he said.

Many residents in Lenteng Agung have complained that students have been dealing in drugs in their boarding houses.

"There's nothing we can do because we feel uncomfortable to complain to the owners, who have lived here longer (than us)," said Edy. -- JP