Councilor wants market's construction postponed

JAKARTA (JP): A councilor wants the reconstruction of Kenari market in Central Jakarta to be postponed because of conflicting land-ownership claims over the site.

Saud Rachman of the council's Commission D for development affairs said yesterday that the city-owned market company and the state-owned railway company (Perumka) both claimed to own the site, and that this should be settled prior to construction.

At least 100 of the 452 kiosks at the Kenari market on Jl. Salemba Raya were razed by fire on July 12. The market was established in the early 1970s. It became popular as an electronics market.

The city has appointed a private developer to work with the market company, PD Pasar Jaya, to rebuild the market on the 7,000 square meter site.

Temporary kiosks have been built along the slow lane of Jl. Salemba, which Saud said poses a traffic problem.

Last month the local office of the state-owned railway company, Perumka, claimed the site belonged to the firm.

To go ahead with the reconstruction plans before settling the dispute "could damage the municipality's reputation," Saud said.

A spokesman for PD Pasar Jaya said earlier that Perumka only owned 231 square meters near the site, and that Perumka's land, now containing a parking lot, would be affected by a road- widening project.

The spokesman, Lihardin Sipayung, said the market firm had acquired the disputed site in 1966 from a government body then called the People's Economic Agency. The plot, formerly owned by the Dutch colonial government, was handed over to the municipality, Lihardin said.

Perumka's management could not be contacted yesterday.

In 1992 a dispute arose between the Kenari traders and the railway company after traders accused the firm of illegally leasing the land to PD Pasar Jaya.

Traders said a contract with Perumka stated they had the right to lease the firm's 231-square-meter plot in Kenari, and that they should have been informed of the transfer of the contract's rights.

Councilor Saud said the market company "should not add to the burden of the municipality," stressing it would be better to first settle the land ownership problem. (anr)