Flaunting the rules

The new Mulia Hotel and the chic cafes dotting Jl. Kemang Raya both flaunt Jakarta's zoning rules. Both are major tests for the city administration. At stake are its integrity and public image. How it handles, and resolves, these problems could determine how much public respect and support the administration can count on in the future. They are litmus tests for new Governor Sutiyoso, and the success of his leadership in the next five years could hinge on this.

Mulia Hotel and the Kemang cafes deviate from Jakarta's city planning. The 40-story Mulia Hotel is built in the Senayan district which is intended for sports facilities. The original plan had been for an athletes village with a building no taller than four stories. The cafes on Jl. Kemang Raya should not be there either. Kemang, according to the city planning, has been designated as a residential area.

But that is where any similarity between the two ends.

In the case of Mulia Hotel, there was a clear intention from the start to flaunt zoning rules, apparently even with the consent of some agencies in the administration. Somebody in the administration had given the go ahead for the developer to build a 16-story hotel. The contractor went further, and turned it into a 40-story building. Hotel Mulia was inaugurated by President Soeharto in time for last month's Southeast Asian Games, and was a showpiece structure of the Games. The scandal behind the construction only surfaced to the public after the Games finished.

In the case of the Kemang cafes, that intent of breaking the rules is missing. Cafe owners and administration officials alike appeared to have accepted that the presence of these chic eateries were legitimate because they had the necessary licenses. There have been no complaints from residents as the main road gradually turned into one of Jakarta's favorite night spots over the years.

It was only in March that the administration became aware of the existing zoning rules. The administration, then still under Governor Surjadi Soedirdja, vowed to close the cafes and restore Kemang to its original function. A few small eateries and shops have been sealed by the administration since then. But should cafe owners, who have invested heavily and are employing hundreds of people, be punished for an oversight by the administration?

Governor Sutiyoso now appears to have conceded that the Kemang businesses can stay open, and city planning would be adjusted accordingly to make the district into a limited commercial zone.

The city administration appears to have also accepted that Mulia Hotel's 40-story building is here to stay, provided it pays a fine. The developer has accepted the blame and is ready to pay the penalty. But the problem does not end there. Work already has begun on the construction of a second tower adjacent to the hotel by the same developer. From the name "tower", one can assume that it is yet another high-rise building, therefore making it another conscious violation of the zoning rules.

In the popular Monopoly board game, a player who goes to jail can pay a fine and continue playing, or else miss one or two turns. The developer of the new tower is doing just that. Break the rule again, pay the fine, and continue the construction.

The way that the Mulia Hotel developer flaunts zoning rules says a lot about the sorry state of the city's regulations, and the administration's seeming inability to enforce them. Sure, rules are meant to be broken, but rules are also meant to be enforced -- and the punishment that comes with those rules is also meant to be applied and to deter future violations. One can only wait in wonder how the administration will get out of this one without losing too much face.