Jakarta to build more low-cost apartments

JAKARTA: The Jakarta administration is set to build some 2,040 low-cost apartments in 2006, Suratman, the head of the planning division at the Jakarta Housing Agency, said on Wednesday.

He was quoted by the city's official online news portal Beritajakarta.com as saying that the construction of the low-cost apartments was aimed at creating a better urban environment and to provide decent housing for Jakartans.

The apartments will include 1,500 units in Marunda, North Jakarta; 292 in Karet Tengsin, Central Jakarta; 48 in Pulo Jahe, East Jakarta, and 200 in Rawa Bebek, also in East Jakarta.

Some Rp 285 billion (about US$28.5 million) will be allocated for the projects out of the 2006 city budget, Suratman said, explaining that the city had acquired 496,857 square meters of land -- some of which was marshland -- for the projects, which would require 49.6 hectares of land in total.. --JP