Land acquisition bogs down canal project
Land acquisition bogs down canal project
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The city administration blamed residents near the site of the
proposed East Flood Canal for the slow progress in its
construction, arguing that the price demanded for land
acquisition was too high.
In response to the City Council's criticism of his annual
budget speech, Governor Sutiyoso said on Tuesday that, as a
consequence, the administration had made little progress in
clearing the land to build the canal.
"Our main obstacle lies in the amount of compensation
required. Almost all the land and building owners on the canal
site have demanded a higher price than the taxable value of the
property (NJOP)," he told the Council's plenary session.
So far, the administration has only managed to acquire 50.8
hectares of land, or only 16 percent of the total 316 hectares of
land required for the project.
The planned canal is necessary to help ease flooding in the
eastern part of the city. The 23.5-kilometer-long canal will
stretch from Cipinang in East Jakarta to Marunda in North
Jakarta.
Projected to be 100-meters wide and five-meters deep, the
Canal will link five rivers in the capital: the Cipinang, Sunter,
Jati Kramat, Buaran and Cakung rivers.
Sutiyoso said the administration had allotted Rp 150 billion
(US$17.6 million) from the 2004 city budget to acquire another 25
hectares of land.
The total fund for land acquisition is Rp 2.4 trillion, while
the construction will cost Rp 2.5 trillion. The construction will
be financed by the Ministry of Settlement and Regional
Infrastructure.
Although he failed to cite the market price of the land and
the price demanded by the residents, Sutiyoso claimed the fund
would not be sufficient.
"We cannot simply meet the demanded price as the regulation
prohibits us from giving compensation higher than the market
value."
He was referring to Article 15 of Presidential Decree No.
55/1993 on land procurement for the development of public
facilities, which states that the calculation of the compensation
is based on the latest NJOP evaluation.
City spokesman Muhayat said the administration was now
drafting a decree that would formulate a win-win solution in
deciding the amount of compensation for land procurement for
public facilities.
"The draft is ready to be signed by the governor," he said,
but declined to mention any points included in the decree.
A source close to the construction project disclosed that
"land mafia" with strong capital would make the price of land
soar in a certain area that is about to be used for public
facilities.
"They have access to information about the location of a
project as well as the power to make government officials include
the land they own in the project blueprint," the source said.