Councilors accuse administration of being inconsistent

Councilors accuse administration of being inconsistent

JAKARTA (JP): Members of City Council have criticized the
municipal administration for being inconsistent in implementing
the existing regulations. They also accuse the administration of
frequently disregarding the council in the issuance of a number
of the city's policies.

Lukman F. Mokoginta, chairman for the Indonesian Democratic
Party faction of the council, said that such inconsistencies can
be seen in many cases, in which city administration issued
permits without any approval from the council.

City administration has, for example, frequently approved
proposals, advanced by private developers, for changes in the
regional development planning of certain plots of land, without
the council's consent. It also, frequently, approved proposals
for the barter of city properties, without informing the city
council.

"These acts show an inconsistency on the part of the city
administration because, according to the regulations, they need
approval from city council," Lukman told reporters over the
weekend.

He also said that this inconsistency is completely against the
governor's recent order to his subordinates concerning the
importance of implementing existing regulations without
compromise, because the rules were not prepared and deliberated
indiscriminately, but through a democratic process.

In reality, however, it is the city administration officials
themselves who compromise with certain private companies to
violate the rules.

"All of this would not happen if the city administration
implemented the regulations consistently," he said.

Lukman further explained that city council recently discovered
a number of cases in which the city administration made decisions
without the council's approval.

Permit

In the development of the Klender market in East Jakarta, the
governor has permitted PD Pasar Jaya, the city-owned market
managing company, to engulf about 3,100 square meters, earmarked
for a green area, for the expansion of the market project.

He said that city administration increasingly tends to change
regional development planning of part of the city police
headquarters area into the establishment of a business center
without any consultation with the council.

"This plan should be avoided because any changes to city
planning, or the usage of city properties, have to get a green
light from the council," he reiterated.

Lukman said that the condition is arising mainly because of
the absence of a land banking system and a thorough master plan.

"The city should have set up a land banking system to enable
it to stabilize land prices and to arrange the development of the
city's areas in line with city planning," he said.

Once city administration plans to build a road network in
certain areas, the compensation of the land to make way for
construction of the project should be set at normal prices with
the help of the land banking system," he said.

Due to the absence of the land banking system, he said, city
administration issues land appropriation permits, allowing
developers to appropriate certain plots of land. The developers
later propose to change its regional development planning, even
though it is against the master plan.

Commenting on the city administration's decisions to change
city planning on the grounds that regional planning can be
reevaluated every five years, Lukman explained that the city
administration has misinterpreted the philosophy of evaluation.

He said reevaluation does not necessarily mean changing the
whole plan, but is aimed at further improving it. (yns)