City to provide Rp 70b for ex-brothel owners

JAKARTA (JP): The North Jakarta administration will provide approximately Rp 70 billion (US$7.6 million) to compensate the appropriation of the 10.4-hectare plot of the former Kramat Tunggak red light district in Tugu Utara subdistrict, North Jakarta.

An official at the subdistrict administration said on Sunday that the total amount of compensation was approved by the land owners and the city administration officials during a meeting at City Hall on Friday.

"In the meeting it was finally agreed that the city administration will pay the compensation to the owners, worth some 90 percent of the total of both the land and the building prices, based on their taxable property value (NJOP).

"The first payment, totaling some Rp 30 billion, will be paid in December this year. But, the meeting has yet to set the date for the second payment of the remaining Rp 40 billion," Slamet Riyadi, head of the subdistrict's community resilience institution (LKMD), told The Jakarta Post by phone.

None of the city administration officials were available for comment on Sunday.

The agreement was achieved after months of tough negotiation between both parties, since the former red light district area was officially closed down by the city administration on December 8 last year.

The North Jakarta administration had insisted that it would pay only 70 percent of the land value and 50 percent of the building value. But, the owners stood firm that they would only relinquish their assets if the government paid those assets in line with the prices based on the taxable property value.

Official prices set by the local tax office stipulate that the price of land in the area is Rp 916,000 per square meter, while for buildings it is Rp 429,000 per square meter.

"All of the differences have been settled as both parties agreed on Friday that the government pay the owners 90 percent of the total price of both the land and the buildings," Slamet said.

He said most of the 270 owners had conceded that they would return to their respective hometowns after receiving the compensation funds.

"The owners, mostly from Indramayu in West Java, had pledged to start their own businesses or to start farming in their respective hometowns," he said.

Slamet admitted that a certain number of prostitutes were still operating in the surrounding area, once dubbed the oldest and biggest red light district in the country.

"However, the number of prostitutes operating today is far less compared to the number of prostitutes operating in the area before its closure last December.

"Indeed, there were routine inspections from the city public order officials, but it apparently didn't work since they always returned to the area," he said.

He added that they were apparently disorganized and operating with their own initiative.

"Most of them are 'old women' (in their late 30s and 40s)," he said, laughing.

During peak periods, the red light district, located near Tanjung Priok sea port in North Jakarta, was home to 1,600 prostitutes and 260 pimps, occupying 221 brothels.

More than half of the area, which was established on April 21, 1970 by then governor Ali Sadikin, was owned by locals. Governor Sutiyoso himself led the closure of the red light district in December last year.

It remains unknown as yet, what the North Jakarta administration will do with the area after all the compensation payment has been settled.

The administration has sought for investors to turn the area into a business district, but the bids were yet successful.

PT Nuansa Jasa Realtindo was the only company which initially expressed interest to invest in the area, but withdrew late last year following the skyrocketing prices of building materials along with the economic crisis. (asa)