City administration fails to promote low-cost apartments

JAKARTA (JP): The city administration has been unsuccessful in encouraging citizens to live in low-cost apartments due to poor public relations and planning, councilors said yesterday.

People still feel they are being forced to move to apartments, they added.

The councilors made their comments following reports of opposition from Tebet fire victims in South Jakarta against a plan by the city administration to build apartments on the former fire site. The plan followed a fire which razed the slum area last week.

"Although the administration has made it a policy to move slum dwellers or fire victims to apartments, the concept has not been accepted because the people are not prepared for apartment living," said Ronggo Sutrisno Thahir, a member of the United Development Party (PPP) faction at the City Council.

He also noted inadequate planning in the construction of low- cost apartments, which is why many apartments retain their slum characteristics.

"People show no interest in apartment living even though they have never experienced it. This apathetic attitude among slum dwellers or fire victims is the result of their ignorance of apartment life," said Ronggo.

The councilor pointed to the poor condition of low-cost apartments as another reason why people are reluctant to move there. Lack of adequate water and electricity supplies and limited public facilities are among the many constraints, he said.

Ronggo proposed that the city administration not only construct low-cost apartments in the former fire site but also some fine apartment units that could even attract middle-class buyers, to enable a cross-subsidy scheme.

"This will reduce the city financial burden. Of course, we would welcome the participation of the private sector," he said.

Ronggo declined to reveal the city's budget for the construction of the low-cost apartments in Tebet.

Planning

Neneng Amalia Dendawacana, a councilor from the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) faction, stressed that as long as the administration could ensure appropriate planning and better, more complete facilities, it could effectively persuade people to live in low-cost apartments.

She also said the city administration should consider providing each apartment with its own primary facilities such as bath and toilet as those facilities are vital to the people.

Currently, each unit in low-cost apartments does not have an individual bath or toilet.

Soetarno, from the Armed Forces faction, also emphasized the need for complete facilities.

He was quoted by Antara new agency as saying that the administration should use a western word, "flat," to replace the Indonesian term for apartments, rumah susun. He argued that rumah susun sounds unappealing.

Meanwhile, a City Hall spokesman, H. Munir, said that the city administration will build low-cost houses on a 8,233 square-meter area in a cemetery in Tanah Abang district, Central Jakarta.

According to Munir, the removal of bodies and bones from 1,392 graves to Pondok Kelapa cemetery in East Jakarta will be conducted from May 22 to 28.

He added that the city will not charge the relatives of the dead for the removal unless they want to rebury their dead somewhere else.(03)