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)