Councils reject aid for house repairs

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The councils of three subdistricts here have rejected city administration aid for the repair of houses damaged by the recent floods.

The councils of Kampung Melayu and Bidara Cina in East Jakarta and Bangka in South Jakarta, turned down the aid because it was too little, head of the Jakarta Housing Agency Bahri Anuar said on Tuesday.

More than 1,000 houses in the three subdistricts were damaged by massive floods in February, but the city only provided funds for the renovation of half the number.

"The councils decided to reject the aid to avoid disputes among residents," Bahri told reporters at City Hall.

The subdistrict council claimed that there were 700 damaged houses in Kampung Melayu, but the administration only allocated funds for the renovation of 250 houses. In Bidara Cina, there were 500 damaged houses while the fund allocated was only for 75 houses. In Bangka, the administration only allocated funds for nine houses even though 79 houses were damaged.

Bahri said hundreds of residents were not eligible to receive aid because their houses were not badly damaged or were located on the riverbanks.

The city administration had allocated more than Rp 10 billion for the renovation of 4,171 damaged houses, with each to receive Rp 2.5 million for the renovation. Four hundred thousand rupiah was to be deducted in tax and design fees.

Councillor Mukhayar of the Justice Party criticized the administration for failing to properly implement the program.

He also revealed irregularities in the program as there were houses that were only slightly damaged, costing only about Rp 1 million to repair.

"But the owners of the houses were asked to sign a receipt acknowledging that they received Rp 2.1 million for the renovation," he said.