Governor orders a halt to Kemang construction plans

JAKARTA (JP): The city has called a temporary halt to issuing permits for construction in the Kemang area, because 90 percent of its buildings are not houses, South Jakarta Mayor Pardjoko said yesterday.

Restaurants, cafes and other non-residential buildings on Jl. Kemang Raya will be studied by a city team.

"We will check their permits, and whoever issued them," Pardjoko said.

Governor Surjadi Soedirdja signed an instruction for the temporary halt on March 18, Pardjoko said after the Governor's speech to the council on his administration's responsibilities yesterday.

"Kemang is a residential area, so, at most, only 15 percent of the buildings can be non-residential, like a doctor's practice or a beauty parlor," Pardjoko said.

In the meantime the area, where many expatriates live, is in a status quo, Pardjoko said.

He said the team's deadline was "as soon as possible".

He confirmed that the city recorded at least 123 non- residential buildings along the road.

Apart from the fact that the current use of buildings was not in line with spatial plans designating the road a residential area, Pardjoko said residents had complained of traffic jams.

Surjadi's instruction ordered the mayor and relevant offices to check building permits in Kemang; to hold dialogs with residents and to seek "wise" settlements.

Pardjoko said he expected good cooperation from building owners "because they have invested large sums of money and would not want to lose it because of legal problems".

Kemang has more than 30 cafes and restaurants which attract residents and the wider public, including celebrities.

Art curio

Other establishments include art curio and furniture stores.

But earlier this month officials said the city was considering returning Kemang to its original status as a residential and water catchment area.

Toha Reno, an official in charge of entertainment establishments at the city's public order office, raised concerns that building owners were threatening the environment by transforming green areas into parking lots and building artesian wells.

The city's tourism agency also said no new license applications would be processed. Since last year Kemang, like other areas, has been reevaluated, an official said.

The agency has found that several restaurants were built without restaurant construction permits, only housing permits, the official said. (anr)