Business on hold amid uncertainty

Business on hold amid uncertainty

Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Developers and contractors in Depok are putting their businesses
on hold due to uncertainty over who won the recent mayoral
election.

Depok Young Entrepreneurs Association (Hipmi Depok) chairman
Edi Sitorus said that many businesspeople there, particularly
contractors and developers, had postponed projects as they were
worried that the next mayor, whoever he might be, could issue
policies that would hurt their interests.

"They want to wait and see what the business policies of the
next mayor will be," Edi told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

For the past six months, Depok, a bustling satellite town on
the outskirt of Jakarta, has been led by an acting mayor as the
dispute over who won the June 26 mayoral election drags on.

The Depok General Elections Commission (KPUD Depok) declared
Nur Mahmudi Ismail of the Prosperous Justice Party to be the
winner last July, but the West Java High Court issued a final and
conclusive ruling declaring Badrul Kamal of Golkar Party to be
the winner.

The ruling sparked anger among PKS supporters and prompted the
KPUD Depok to file for a review of the ruling.

Edi said the acting mayor was unable to make quick decisions
on, for example, how to minimize the impact of the fuel price
hikes on the price of construction materials, which had gone up
by an average of 25 percent since September.

"For contractors like us, this is intolerable. The
administration should immediately set the maximum prices for
construction materials. I have contacted officials in the Depok
administration but they said they could not make such decisions,"
he said.

Edi, who currently has a construction project in the
municipality, said that with such high prices, many contractors
had decided to put their projects on hold in the hope of lower
prices later.

Several other businessmen, he said, had also delayed their
projects as they were worried that they would have to make new
deals with the new mayor later on.

The Supreme Court announced earlier this week that it would
issue a ruling on who won the election after the Idul Fitri
holiday, forcing the Ministry of Home Affairs on Tuesday to
extend the term of acting mayor Warma Sutarman.

Businessman Sofyan said that he had to put several business
deals worth billions of rupiah on hold as his partners wanted to
wait to see who was eventually declared the victor in the
election.

"They just don't want to take the risk that they will have to
renegotiate the deal with the definitive mayor later on. It would
be a waste of money and energy," he told the Post without
specifying which projects were involved.

Another problem that needed to be resolved quickly was demands
by Depok workers for a raise in the minimum wage.

Around 1,000 workers from various companies in Depok staged a
rally on Wednesday, demanding that the local minimum wage be
raised to Rp 1.2 million following the fuel price hikes.

"This will affect our businesses as well," Sofyan said.

While acknowledging that uncertainty over the election had
caused problems, Amri Yusra, a Depok councillor from the PKS,
said that the council had delegated more powers to Warma to allow
him to make essential decisions.

"We are now at a meeting to discuss budget revisions submitted
by the acting mayor. This shows that we have given him the power
to amend the budget. We will also give him the other powers he
needs. I think Depok people shouldn't worry as his decisions are
as binding as those of the elected mayor," Amri told the Post.