Hashim Djojohadikusumo: 27 Million Families Live in Substandard Housing

Hashim Djojohadikusumo, head of the Housing Task Force, said there are as many as 27 million families living in uninhabitable housing in alarming conditions. As a result, the Government regards the housing needs of Indonesians as still very large. Therefore, a push to home ownership is needed, one of which is the priority programme of 3 million homes. Hashim said the gap between the number of households in need of housing and the availability of adequate housing supply, or backlog, remains substantial. Based on this, the Government is accelerating the 3 million homes for Low-Income Households (MBR). In addition, housing construction can also provide a multiplier effect for other sectors of industry. According to him, the housing sector contributes around 2 percent to national economic growth. If the housing programme can be implemented, it could lift the overall economy. “We have estimated that if everything goes as we want, 3 million homes or apartments, if possible each year, we could gain between 1.5 and 2 percent. If the Government currently accounts for 5.3 percent, from housing we could reach up to 7 percent,” he said. To realise this, the Government has just partnered with Lippo Group to build 140 vertical housing units on a 30-hectare donated land in the Cikarang area, West Java. In addition to the project on the 30-hectare site, the Government is also preparing to develop public housing in other locations. One of them is in the Depok area with potential land of around 45 hectares, which is currently in coordination with local government. The 45-hectare land belongs to the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (Kominfo) including Radio Republik Indonesia, and 41 hectares of land belong to the Ministry of Defence in Central Jakarta. He said accelerating the construction of public housing requires cross-ministerial cooperation, local governments, and the private sector so that the housing programme targets can be achieved.