Government optimistic it can build one million low-cost houses

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A senior government official expressed optimism on Friday that the country could achieve its target of building one million low- cost houses this year.

A deputy to the Office of State Minister of Public Housing Sjarifuddin Akil said that his optimism was based on the smooth disbursement of subsidized loans for the purchase of low-cost houses.

He said Bank Tabungan Negara (BTN), for example, had disbursed half of its home loans targeted for this year.

According to a report, the bank is targeting to channel Rp 1.5 trillion (US$153 million) in subsidized loans for the purchase of 75,000 low-cost houses.

Besides BTN, subsidized home loans were also channeled through other appointed banks.

The plan to build one million houses this year was part of a national program, which was initiated during Megawati Soekarnoputri's presidency, to build one million houses every year from 2003 until 2020.

Under the program, 200,000 houses and more than 10,000 low- cost apartments would be built and sold with subsidized loans, while some 600,000 houses would be built by community members. The government will also support the renovation of 200,000 substandard houses.

Sjarifuddin said the program was designed to assist those 70 percent of Indonesians earning less than Rp 1.5 million a month to purchase their own houses.

"To help increase their power to purchase the houses, the government had increased the subsidies from a range between Rp 2.4 million and Rp 3 million per applicant to a range of between Rp 3 million and Rp 5 million," he said.

A press report said the government had also increased the total subsidy for low-cost rental apartments from Rp 150 billion to Rp 350 billion. (006)