Councilor questions private management of city property
JAKARTA (JP): A city councilor raised objections, yesterday, to private management of public facilities at a housing complex in North Jakarta.
Ismunandar, a deputy city council speaker, told reporters that according to existing regulations, public and social facilities built by developers at housing complexes are regarded as property of the municipality.
The public and social facilities include roads, playgrounds, parks, halls, mosques, churches and schools.
Ismunandar said the municipality will manage the property for the benefit of the housing complex's residents.
"Thereby, we wonder why the management of social and public facilities at the Kelapa Gading Permai housing complex is being carried out by a private sector company, instead of the municipality," Ismunandar said.
The real estate was built by PT Sumarecon Agung.
It was reported that the sports center on the land, called the Kelapa Gading Sports Center (KGSC), was supposed to be among the public facilities owned by the city administration. At present, it is being managed by the Yayasan KORPRI (the Foundation of Indonesian Civil Servants Corps) in cooperation with a private firm.
Those who make use of the sports center are reportedly charged a relatively high price.
"We wonder if the city administration has granted the license to KORPRI and the private firm to manage the facilities. If it is a violation, we hope the authorities immediately take measures to handle it before other housing complexes across the city follow suit," said Ismunandar.
Ismunandar said he is afraid that, under the management of a profit-oriented private firm, facilities which were intended to serve the public might become an enterprise that profits off the local residents.
When asked by reporters to comment, Prawoto, an assistant to the provincial secretary in charge of economic and development affairs, said the municipality has the right to authorize that KORPRI manage the sport center. However, he said he had no idea if the agency was permitted to cooperate with the private company in question.
"We should investigate the case further," said Prawoto.
He said the municipality may in principle authorize any third party to manage social and public facilities as long as the city administration shares in the profits.
In a related development, Romulus Sihombing, a councilor from the PDI (Indonesian Democratic Party), criticized the authorities and real estate developers for their tendency to build "expensive" public facilities instead of "low-priced" ones at housing complexes
He singled out a tennis court, describing it as an example of an expensive public facility since those who want to use it must pay.
"Why do the developers never build facilities like volley ball courts or soccer grounds which the residents can use for free? Why does the municipality never obligate the developers to do so? Is it because both parties are afraid of getting no income from this type of facilities?" asked Romulus.
According to regulations, recreational facilities built by developers at housing complexes need the approval of the municipality prior to construction. (jsk)