Hundreds of houses bulldozed

Hundreds of houses bulldozed

JAKARTA (JP): Bogor city administration will summon a developer, identified only as PT FMP, for bulldozing hundreds of houses in the Citeureup district, Bogor without paying any compensation.

Antara reported on Tuesday that the official of the administration, who asked not to be named, said PT FMP had bulldozed the houses to make way for the construction of real estate and golf course projects.

There has been no confirmation about the action to be taken against the reckless developer.

The authorities had actually ordered the developer to stop land clearing activities in the area in a bid to enable both sides to settle their problem, the official said.

The order was ignored. The developer reportedly bulldozed the houses without any prior notification.

The demolished houses are owned by villagers who refuse to move away and have turned down an offer from the developer because it was considered too low.

The developer set the compensation fee at Rp 25,000 per meter plus Rp 250 for each meter of building. The villagers are asking for more because the prices of nearby land has reached from between Rp 50,000 and Rp 100,000 per meter.

The "stubborn" villagers are part of 2,500 families occupying the 205-hectare plot of land located along the Jagorawi toll road. Only 30 percent of them have received the compensation fee from PT FMP. (25)