City plans to expand Pulogadung estate

JAKARTA (JP): City administration, in cooperation with a private company, plans to expand the Pulogadung industrial estate, East Jakarta by 80 hectares.

A source at the city administration told reporters yesterday that the expansion is needed to transform the estate, which was established in 1973, so the complex will be "better organized."

Currently, the Pulogadung industrial estate is located on a 570 hectare plot of land and is believed to be the most expensive industrial estate in the city, where a company should pay US$12 per square-meter in rent.

The city administration is cooperating with the private company because it has not enough funds to carry out the expansion plan, said a source who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The source said that each party, the Pulogadung industrial estate authority and PT Cakra Sarana Persada, already has obtained 30 hectares of land and still needs another 20 hectares.

Since the land is owned by local residents the city administration needs approval from the city council to appropriate the land.

Indonesian Democratic Party representative in the city council Lukman Mokoginta told reporters yesterday that the city administration should be transparent in setting the compensation rates for the land.

"It's all right to appropriate the land as long as the city administration is setting the compensation fairly based on the prevailing regulations," Lukman said.

He explained that under the regulation, compensation should be based on the current value of taxable property.

Meanwhile, Secretary of the United Development Party Saud Rachman opposed the plan, saying that the industrial estate is not appropriate in the city because factories cause air pollution.

"With the existing factories the air is already badly polluted and the condition will be worse if more factories are built in Pulogadung," Saud said.

On the other hand, he said, the expansion is contrary to the city program to relocate factories to the city outskirts as well as other towns near the city.

"So it is unacceptable for the city administration to expand Pulogadung industrial estate," Saud said. (yns)