Bukit Sentul tenants protest over high greening fees

Theresia Sufa, The Jakarta Post/Bogor

Dozens of residents of the Bukit Sentul housing estate filed a complaint with the Bogor City Council over monthly environmental management fees of between Rp 700,000 (US$74.50) and Rp 1 million charged by the developer.

"We have often protested the high fees collected by PT Sukaputra Grahacemerlang because we do not know where the money goes. But these protests have apparently fallen on deaf ears," said resident Kunarso.

Another resident, Christiani R Tarigan, told councillors she bought a 1,000-square-meter plot of land in Bukit Sentul in 2003 during an auction held by the now-defunct Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA).

The basic price of the land was Rp 250 million, but a few months later she received a bill for Rp 196 million for environmental management fees.

"I have filed complaints but they have gone unanswered .... The bill comes every month with an additional charge of Rp 4 million. The last one came last Tuesday for Rp 213 million.

"I will not pay that .... I never signed a deal with Bukit Sentul, only with IBRA," she said.

Other residents said the environmental management fees charged by Bukit Sentul were far more expensive than other housing estates in Jakarta. In the luxurious Pondok Indah housing estate, for example, the fee is only Rp 65,000 per month.

Several residents said the developer threatened to cut off their water if they did not pay the fee.

Receiving the Bukit Sentul residents at his office, council speaker Rahmat Yasin questioned the fee.

"The housing estate is expensive because of the view and the surroundings offered by the developer, but it is not right if residents have to pay up to Rp 4 million in monthly fees," he said.

The council's Commission A on administrative affairs and Commission C on environmental issues said they would summon the developer to clarify the policy.

"We also want to know what sanctions the developer will slap on residents if they refuse to pay the environmental management fee," Rahmat said.