Govt adamant about ban on housing projects
Govt adamant about ban on housing projects
Moch N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The government insisted on Thursday it would go ahead with its plan to temporarily ban all housing development in the Greater Jakarta area despite protests from housing developers.
Minister of Resettlement and Regional Infrastructure Soenarno said the move was necessary as part of the efforts to save the country from greater economic losses that may result from floods in the future.
"Don't only think about property losses. Think about the national economy which was halted due to the floods," he told reporters after the meeting with officials from other ministries and local administrations surrounding Jakarta.
The meeting was also attended by executives of the Indonesian Real Estate Association (REI), who strongly rejected the government's plan.
Under the plan, no housing development is permitted in the Greater Jakarta area for between three and six months.
The plan was initiated following the massive flooding which hit the capital and surrounding areas for several days last week. Many people have blamed it on the dwindling catchment areas in Jakarta following the rapid housing development over the past several years.
People say the developers could easily gain licenses to build their projects in catchment area thanks to collusion with the local governmental officials.
Soenarno estimated losses resulting from the damage caused by the floods on the public facilities, including road and water gates, had reached Rp 85 billion (US$8.25 million).
Some parties, however, have been confused by the plan as under existing regulations the right to issue permits for housing development lies with the regional administrations not the central government.
Soenarno said the government may issue a presidential decree stipulating the ban.
Soenarno noted that the temporary ban on housing development did not mean that the government was pointing the finger at property developers for the recent flood.
"Our action isn't aimed at blaming one party ... in fact many parties are responsible for triggering the flood," Soenarno said.
Soenarno noted, however, that during the ban, the government would evaluate the operation of all housing developers in the Greater Jakarta area to find out whether or not they have violated rulings.
"And it's important that they stop building any houses while we evaluate them," he said.
Should it be proven that they have violated any rulings, the government would first ask them to redesign their housing complex plan, the minister said, but he failed to specify any sanctions to be imposed on uncooperative developers.
He said one of the housing projects being evaluated by the government was the Pantai Indah Kapuk golf course in North Jakarta which was built on a coastal mangrove swamp.
Soenarno said the government would publish the results of its evaluation next week.
In the long term, he said, the government would take several actions to cope with the flood problem including repairing the water gate in Manggarai, increasing the capacity of the water gate in the West Flood Canal and building new water gates.
Meanwhile, the Indonesian Real Estate Association vice chairman Lukman Purnomosidi raised objections to the plan, saying the current housing development in Jakarta had been licensed by the Jakarta administration.
"We posses the legal basis to build the houses ... it can't be just canceled," he said.
He said the ban threatened REI's plan to develop about 90,000 houses in the Greater Jakarta this year -- projects which will absorb a total of 900,000 workers and involve Rp 3 trillion in investment.
However, he said, the association would support the government's plan to evaluate all housing developers in order to identify and punish delinquent developers.
He called on the government not only to blame housing developers for the recent floods but also to seek a broad solution involving various parties.
"This flood is not only caused by our members ... there are still many other aspects that must be seen," he said.
REI has 300 active members in the Greater Jakarta area and a total 2,000 members nationwide.