Cipondoh swamp left untapped

Cipondoh swamp left untapped

TANGERANG: A project to develop Situ Rawa Cipondoh lake in a
swamp area into a recreational site has been abandoned for the
last two years, an official said on Saturday.

Tangerang administration spokesman Saeful Rachman said the
project was started by developer PT Griya Eka Paksi when
Tangerang was still part of West Java province.

The municipality was made a part of Banten province in 2002.

"But as of today, it is unclear what the developer has been
doing. We have summoned the developer several times to clarify
this, but none of the company's representatives have come to the
administration office," Saeful told The Jakarta Post.

He added that Mayor Wahidin Halim had decided not to give any
permits to developers to make any changes to the swamp until PT
Griya Eka Paksi restored it to its original function as a
catchment area.

The neglected project had separated the 26-hectare lake into
two parts.

Currently, the lake, which is located right opposite the
office of Cipondoh administration on Jl. KH Hasyim Ashari, is a
popular fishing spot for locals. -- JP

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Focus-projects-capital
Govt wants reliable contractors
JP/8/Great

Govt wants reliable contractors

TANGERANG: Starting this year, the Tangerang regency office
will require contractors who bid for development projects to have
a bank balance amounting to at least 10 percent of the value of
the project.

"With such a requirement, the contractors can no longer play
hide and seek with us," Regent Ismet Iskandar told The Jakarta
Post on Saturday.

That way, Ismet said, the administration can minimize
additional expenditure for public facilities, which is financed
by taxpayers.

"We had had numerous experiences with bad contractors who
reduced the value of the project by 60 percent," he said, adding
that several contractors had even neglected to complete the
project and still taken their payment.

Deputy chairman of Tangerang chapter of the Indonesian
Construction Companies Association (Gapeksindo), Khaerudin, said
that such a requirement should only be enforced for medium to
large companies.

He also demanded that the administration expedite the issuance
of construction permits "because the slow bureaucracy had
hampered the implementation, raising the cost of the project". -- JP