City projects hit snag over land acquisition

Damar Harsanto, Jakarta

East Jakarta Mayor Koesnan Abdul Halim complained that many city projects had been halted or have not gotten off the ground because of disputes with residents over the land.

"There are no clear, strong regulations that support our efforts to acquiring land that people have been living on for years. Therefore, many of our projects have come to a halt," he said on Tuesday at City Hall.

Koesnan cited the East Flood Canal, the Pulo Gebang bus terminal, the railway from Cikarang in Bekasi to Manggarai in South Jakarta and the conversion of the Boker red light district into a sports complex, as some of the projects stalled due to land acquisition problems.

The mayor said the people often demanded higher more compensation for their land than its actual value, or the Value of Taxable Property (NJOP).

"There is a regulation that stipulates that the compensation must not exceed the NJOP," he said.

Gubernatorial Decree No. 43/2004 on the guidelines to determine compensation stipulates that the compensation must be consistent with the latest NJOP.

A previous decree issued by then Governor Ali Sadikin in 1972 stated that the compensation would equal the NJOP if the resident possessed a land ownership certificate. The compensation would be lower than the NJOP if the resident did not have it.

Those affected by the land where the East Flood Canal project is, have demanded the administration to compensate them up to Rp 2 million (US$215) per square meter -- four times higher than the NJOP, currently at Rp 500,000 per square meter.

To date, the administration has only acquired 50.8 hectares of the 316 hectares needed for the Rp 4.124-trillion canal, or only 16 percent.

The 23.5-kilometer canal -- which will stretch from Cipinang in East Jakarta to Marunda in North Jakarta -- will greatly reduce flooding.

Meanwhile, residents in Pulo Gebang, whose land is affected by the construction of the bus terminal, are demanding compensation that is two times the NJOP of between Rp 600,000 and Rp 800,000 per square meter.

So far, the administration has acquired around 90 percent of the 10.9 hectare plot of land for the terminal.

"We have asked the administration to allocate at least Rp 21 billion to compensate the remaining 10 percent of land (approximately 11,000 square meters)," Koesnan said.

According to Gubernatorial Decree No. 43/2004, if negotiations between the administration and the land owners over the compensation reaches a deadlock, the first party could proceed by proposing a recommendation to the President to revoke the land ownership rights from the owner.

"However, it will take years... And, we must also take into account the social costs to bear if we forcibly evict them," Koesnan said.

The Pulo Gebang bus terminal -- which is expected to be the most modern intercity bus terminals in Indonesia -- was supposed to have been operational in 2001, to replace the overcrowded terminal that is there. The Rp 200 billion terminal will be able to accommodate 1,400 buses per day.