Developer of Luxury Emerald Resort Housing Denies Fraud Allegations, Admits Project Delays

The developer of The Emeralda Resort housing project has finally spoken out regarding allegations of fraud in the construction of homes in Jayamekar Village, Padalarang District, West Bandung Regency, West Java. Homes ordered by consumers have not been built despite funds having been deposited with the developer as agreed. President Director of PT Siliwangi Anatha Bumi, Yana Priatna, denied accusations of fraud in the housing development project. However, he acknowledged there had been construction delays. He admitted that incoming funds from consumers were immediately used for project needs, primarily land acquisition and initial groundwork at the site. “There is no intention of fraud; the certificates are still cash on hand. I am ready to be audited at any time. We are focused on completing the land payments first. Besides that, the permitting process was quite lengthy, as was the cut and fill work. As a result, the project experienced delays,” Yana stated on Wednesday. Yana outlined his company’s mistakes in executing the luxury housing project. According to him, the company made a number of errors in project management, as The Emeralda Resort is the first large-scale project managed by the firm. Consequently, there were shortcomings in operational management, marketing, investment, and organisational management aspects. “Perhaps because this is the first time we have managed a project of this scale, there were management errors, whether operational, marketing, investment, or other matters,” Yana said. Furthermore, the company allocated a large amount of funds to complete land acquisition before commencing maximum physical construction. Significant operational and marketing costs also burdened the company’s finances. This situation was exacerbated by economic conditions that caused income to be disproportionate to expenditure. “Yes, for land acquisition, cut and fill, and other progress. I also acknowledge there were mistakes because operational, marketing, and sales costs were too high. Coupled with various crises that occurred, income did not align with spending, so we experienced cash flow problems,” Yana explained.