City needs bigger share in projects

JAKARTA (JP): The city administration is trying to improve its bargaining power in joint projects with private sector, the director of a city-owned developer says.

"We want to have a bigger share...to be able to determine policies," Kemal Basha, director of PD Sarana Jaya, said Saturday.

Kemal's comments came in response to city councilors' questions over projects between the municipality and private investors.

Councilors cited PT Jaya Ancol and PT Pembangunan Jaya in which most policies were determined by the private firms, even though the city owns 80 percent of Jaya Ancol and 40 percent of Pembangunan Jaya.

Djafar Badjeber of the United Development Party (PPP) faction said the city was largely uninformed about progress in the Ancol Dreamland Park.

Kemal said the municipality would set more specific arrangements for private investors interested in the project.

"The arrangements would be in the project's development, operation and management. The efforts are to make the private investors comply with our interests," Kemal said.

Kemal said a new development project, which would be jointly developed with the private sector in Pademangan, North Jakarta, would entail greater authority of city reflected by its bigger share.

He said the arrangement of the 100-hectare project would be determined soon. "The project would take five years to complete," he said.

Prawoto S. Danoemihardjo, assistant to the secretary of development affairs, said earlier the Kemayoran New Township Authority, which is under the State Secretariat, was among the developers invited to take part in the project.

Sarana Jaya would work with developers in the land appropriation and form a joint venture to develop the project.

Sarana Jaya said land appropriation alone was estimated to cost about Rp 1.25 trillion (US$477.8 million).

Currently, most buildings in the state lands are semi- permanent and prone to flooding and sea water intrusion.

The planned Pademangan complex would integrate middle and working class accommodation as a residential and business center.

The housing complex in Pademangan in the eastern and western parts of the slum area would accommodate 18,515 families on more than 1.8 million square meters.

A shopping center would be designed to cover 1,059,058 square meters, while office buildings and hotels are planned on 5.5 million square meters.

Sarana Jaya is considered to have successfully developed several housing estates in the city by implementing the "estate management" concept, which means involving private developers with different areas of expertise.

In the long term, the project is expected to complement the Waterfront City Project in North Jakarta. (ste)