IBRA provides 237 hectares of land for low-cost housing
Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) has designated some 237 hectares of land on Jakarta's outskirts to build low- cost housing for families earing less than Rp 1.5 million (US$177) a month.
IBRA also committed 351 hectares of land for low-cost housing in several municipalities and regencies throughout Indonesia.
The agency made the announcement during a meeting on Tuesday to discuss a national government program to build 200,000 low- cost houses throughout Indonesia by 2004.
The meeting, held at the office of Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Jusuf Kalla in Central Jakarta, was attended by Minister of Settlement and Regional Infrastructure Soenarno and IBRA head Syafruddin Temenggung, among others.
Soenarno said the land from IBRA was scattered across 49 locations in 15 cities, including Jakarta; Bekasi, Bogor and Cimahi in West Java; Tangerang in Banten; Balikpapan in East Kalimantan; Pontianak in West Kalimantan; Semarang in Central Java; and Makassar in South Sulawesi.
"We will check the status of the land for any ongoing legal disputes," Soenarno said.
He added that the national low-cost housing program would prioritize civil servants. However, he did not specify how many of the planned 200,000 new houses would be allocated for civil servants.
The government has signed agreements with approximately 40 municipalities and regencies across the country, under which the local administrations will provide vacant land and the government and banks will provide funds for the construction of the new homes.
All five municipalities in Jakarta declined to provide land for the program because the price of land in the capital is so high. The North Jakarta municipality, however, is considering setting aside some land in Muara Angke to build low-cost apartments for fishermen who were evicted from their homes on Oct. 22.
The total value of the land committed by IBRA is estimated at Rp 150 billion. However, Soenarno hopes the government will be able to pay IBRA less than the market price.