Govt to own all land reclaimed in North Jakarta

JAKARTA (JP): The government is preparing a regulation stipulating that it will own the land currently being reclaimed in North Jakarta, State Minister of Agrarian Affairs Soni Harsono said yesterday.

Under the regulation, the reclaimed land would belong to the government, while the private developers in charge of the projects will be given priority to obtain the titles to use the land for their business.

Soni said the government would own the land to ensure the development of the 2,700-hectare reclaimed area complied with the city's spatial plan.

"The land titles of the reclaimed land will be regulated by the government to ensure its legal ground," said Soni, who is also the chairman of the National Land Agency.

"The regulation is currently being deliberated and is expected to be completed later this year," Soni said after presenting his paper on land ownership in reclamation areas at a seminar on coast reclamation and its environmental impact at Horison Hotel in North Jakarta.

The three-day seminar was organized by Jakarta's Tarumanegara University in cooperation with the Illinois Institute of Technology in the United States and the Petra Christian University in Surabaya.

Soni said the regulation was very important to prevent land conflicts in the reclamation area once the project had been completed.

Once a land conflict occurred, it would take time to solve, not to mention possible court procedures and compensation, he said.

He acknowledged there was no firm regulation regarding the reclamation of land as it was only supervised under a circular issued by the State Minister of Agrarian Affairs in May 1996.

"Under the new regulation, the designated function of the land, including its development projects, is expected not to change from the existing spatial plan for the area," Soni said.

The government, however, valued the participation of the private sector in the reclamation works under the coordination of the Jakarta administration, he said.

"We appreciate private investors' role in the project. We also understand that reclamation needs a lot of investment, so, we will give priority to them," he said.

The land titles, he said, would be effective for 25 years. "But, the developers could propose to extend the titles as soon as the permits expire," Soni said.

Individuals who are interested in the reclaimed land could obtain their land titles from the developers once the latter had got the rights from the government, he said.

Governor Surjadi Soedirdja said last week that the entire reclamation area had been parceled out among private and state- owned developers.

He said some developers undertaking reclamation projects had already moved beyond reclaiming land into the physical construction stage.

Among the seven contractors licensed for the project are PT Mandira Permai, PT Manggala Krida Yudha, PT ISMAC, PT Jaladri Karyika Eka Paksi and PT Kapuk Naga Indah.

Manggala Krida, which is owned by President Soeharto's youngest daughter Siti Hutami Endang Adiningsih, is developing the Ancol Baru reclamation project in cooperation with the state- owned port management company PT Pelindo II.

Manggala Krida reclaimed 500 hectares which was planned to be developed into a business, commercial and residential area.

The Pantai Indah Kapuk waterfront project, being undertaken by Mandira Permai, is expected to be finished in 2002.

Another project in Kapuk Naga is reclaiming 674 hectares. The environmental impact assessment is still being completed. It is being developed by Kapuk Naga Indah, a subsidiary of the Salim group. (ste)