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.