Ciputat traders may lose land to overpass

Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang

The Tangerang regency administration plans to employ controversial Government Regulation (PP) No. 36/2005 to force traders to sell their land for the Ciputat flyover project.

"We have no choice. As a last resort, the administration must turn to PP No. 36/2005 on land clearance for public projects so construction on the flyover can start soon," Regent Ismet Iskandar said on Tuesday.

The regulation, which has been widely criticized, allows the authorities to force citizens to sell their land for public projects.

Thirty-three traders have refused to vacate their land on Jl. Dewi Sartika in Ciputat, Tangerang, to make way for the Ciputat flyover, effectively stalling the project that was originally scheduled to begin earlier this year.

Ismet said his administration had already notified the landowners that the deadline for reaching an agreement on compensation was Aug. 15, and that if no agreement was reached the owners would be forced off their land.

"The construction project must start soon or not at all since the central government has twice warned us that the funds from a Japanese consortium will go to other regions if we fail to settle the land issue by August," the regent said.

The Tangerang regency administration has offered landowners compensation of Rp 1.5 million per square meter for their land. All but the 33 traders accepted the compensation.

"Landowners who refuse the offer will have to accept whatever the Tangerang District Court decides to give them for their land and buildings," Ismet said.

Some 120 buildings will be affected by the 800-meter-long flyover stretching from the Ramayana department store on Jl. Dewi Sartika to a gasoline station on Jl. Juanda.

Most building owners who accepted the compensation began demolishing their stores soon after they received the money from the administration in November.

Regency administration assistant Bunyamin Davnie said the Rp 250 billion flyover should be completed by December 2007.

"The administration must take stern action to protect the public's interests, and if the land clearance problem is not settled by the end of August the central government will divert the Japanese aid to other regions," he said.

The flyover, which is expected to ease chronic traffic around Ciputat Market, will be financed by the central government in cooperation with a Japanese consortium.

Davnie said the regency administration had spent Rp 125 billion from the 2004 budget and another Rp 25 billion from the 2005 budget to acquire land for the project.