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)