City administration vows to simplify issuance of papers

JAKARTA (JP): The municipality has promised to trim down bureaucratic procedures required to obtain various permits, while Governor Surjadi Soedirdja admitted that investors have had to pay bribes to speed up the acquisition process.

Deputy Governor for Government Affairs, Idroes, said yesterday one of the procedures to be simplified would be the one to obtain land use permits.

"In the future any proposal for land use permits will only be reviewed once by the governor," Idroes said.

Currently a proposal for such permits, required for companies intending to use at least 5,000 square meters of land, must first be forwarded to the city planning agency.

After being studied at the agency, all proposals are forwarded to the Governor, who then sends them back to the agency.

This second study by the agency is followed by an overview by the Governor, who may then issue his approval through a decree.

Surjadi said yesterday that while investors are suffering lengthy delays burdened with levies, they are also having to pay interest on their loans.

For instance, an investor can spend one year acquiring a permit to appropriate land for a factory. Meanwhile interest must be paid although the project has not yet even started, he said.

"Investors often seek ways to quicken the process by bribing officials," Surjadi said.

The new method, Idroes said, "will be faster than the current system. And hopefully it will increase investment here and reduce investors' complaints," Idroes said.

Idroes added that the municipality will also simplify procedures in other agencies such as the city development supervision agency.

Governor Surjadi said the plan is part of efforts to make Jakarta competitive compared with other cities in the Asia Pacific region.

"Jakarta lies in a region with a huge potential market and we are determined to create an attractive climate for investors. This can be done by creating quick and cheap services," he said.

He said that the first stage of the plan will be implemented in the city planning and development supervision agencies, a source of numerous complaints.

"Hopefully they will be ready to issue documents more simply by the end of this year," Surjadi said.

The public, including investors in housing developments and factories, have often complained about poor services offered by city agencies.

One investor has claimed that he has to slip a certain amount of money inside documents every time he deals with different officials.

Surjadi emphasized that the new procedure will reduce corruption among officials.

"The fees of the services will remain the same," he said, referring to city rules on the fees required for certain documents, but added that the real cost should be reduced as the procedures have been simplified, and so there should be fewer bribery opportunities.

"But more simple procedures will have a positive impact on investors because they will be cheaper than the current ones," the Governor said.

According to the city investment board, in 1995 alone, the total foreign investment in Jakarta exceeded Rp 1.2 trillion US$510 million) while domestic investment was Rp 3.19 trillion ($1.38 billion). (yns)