Building permits revenue falls

Building permits revenue falls

TANGERANG (JP): Revenue accrued by the Tangerang
administration from the processing of building permits has
sharply dropped because fewer people are constructing houses and
buildings, an official said Saturday.

The head of Tangerang's development office, H. Ahmad Basari,
said that the number of permits processed had dropped to almost
zero per day since January from between four and five a day last
year.

"It is not easy to collect more levies on building permits
during this time of monetary crisis because fewer people are
constructing houses or buildings," he said.

Ahmad told Antara that his office had tried to encourage
developers to process the building permits, which would be
completed within 12 days, and installment payment scheme.

Yet only a few of the 150 developers registered in Tangerang
had recently applied for the permits, he said.

In the period between April last year and January, the office
received only Rp 1,4 billion (US$175,000) from the processing of
building permits for houses, he said.

Ahmad said that the office's total revenue from houses, real
estates, industries, warehouses and shopping centers during the
same period was Rp 6.8 billion. (cst)