Kemayoran board to help area residents relocate

Kemayoran board to help area residents relocate

JAKARTA (JP): The Kemayoran Area Development Board has asked
local residents to cooperate in the relocation of their houses,
in line with city planning.

Under the cooperation, which is intended mainly to help settle
disputes with local residents over land appropriations, the
residents are asked to hand over their lands to be used by the
board, Hindro T. Soemardjan, chairman of the board's council of
directors, said yesterday.

This settlement is badly needed because the land dispute has
hampered the board's plan to develop the area into a new and
modern business center.

However, the residents are being asked to set aside 10 percent
of their lands for the development of public facilities,
including roads, he told 20 residents, from the Gunung Sahari
Selatan and Kemayoran Gempol subdistricts.

He explained that the cooperation is offered because the board
has no authority to appropriate their lands.

"We will finance the construction of the public facilities,"
Hindro told residents in the meeting at the board's headquarters,
which was also attended by members of the City Council's
Commission A, in charge of government affairs.

Hindro explained that based on the Kemayoran development plan
the residents' lands are included in the plan and have to be
developed. The board is willing to help relocate their houses as
long as the owners are willing to contribute 10 percent of their
lands.

Advantage

For example, he said, in one block, with a total area of
10,000 square-meters being owned by several people, 1,000 square-
meters will be used for public facilities.

He reiterated that the residents will get many advantage under
this cooperation because the facilities will help boost their
land prices.

All of the residents who attended the meeting are those who
have legal documents, including land certificates and girik (land
measurement) papers.

The Board previously planned to appropriate the land by
offering compensation between Rp 300,000 (US$136) to Rp 700,000
per square meter. This offer was rejected by the residents on the
grounds that the land price in the area is valued at Rp 2 million
per square-meter.

However, Hindro said, "If you agree with this cooperation, you
will be asked to develop or use the land according to the
Kemayoran development plan, which is the construction of
apartments in the Kemayoran Gempol subdistrict and an office
center in the Gunung Sahari subdistrict." He did not give
details.

The residents said that they would think about, and discuss,
the cooperation offer with other residents before making a
decision. (yns)