Land licencing procedures meet vocal criticism
Land licencing procedures meet vocal criticism
JAKARTA (JP): A number of businessmen have sharply criticized
the customary procedures at city administration to secure land
use licenses (SIPPT), labeling them arduous, most bureaucratic
and time-consuming.
The businessmen contended that the procedures run counter to
President Soeharto's recent call on all government offices to do
away with all rulings that hamper public service.
"Arduous and time-consuming aside, to obtain such a license we
have to spend a large amount of money, mostly used to pay illegal
fees which are not officially stated on the forms we have to fill
in when applying for the license," one businessman complained as
quoted by Kompas daily yesterday.
He lambasted the many officials in charge of issuing the
licenses, branding them as unscrupulous, corrupt and greedy.
"Their actions are tantamount to blatant corruption," the
businessman, who asked not be identified, charged.
Barricades
He said they have to pass through a "myriad of hurdles and
barricades" before they finally secure the licenses.
"Even after we managed to jump over what could have been the
last hurdle of having the licenses signed by the governor, we are
still required to show the licenses to numerous officials who
check and verify the validity of the licenses as well as the
signatures of the governor," another businessman added. "This is
quite ridiculous indeed, especially in light of the deregulation
drive currently being boosted by the government in practically
all sectors."
The businessman, who is now constructing office buildings on
Jl. Thamrin and Jl. Sudirman in Central Jakarta, related that he
had to go through more than 30 counters in various municipality
offices before securing a license enabling him to build the
offices. "It took me more than one year and an untold sum of
money to obtain the license. This is not to mention the time and
energy spent."
He further said there is no use protesting the procedures
while the process for the issuance of a license is underway
because it means that, instead of speeding up the process, the
officials will deliberately delay it until "a large amount of
grease money" is paid.
He said if a businessman did not have a "high degree" of
patience, tolerance and, more importantly, a large sum of money
to bribe those officials, he'd better cancel his intention to
apply for such a license.
"These practices totally run counter to the President's call
for the improvement of public service in government offices as
well as the government's deregulation drive and anti-graft
campaigns," he pointed out.
He refused, however, to name any of the officials whom he
described as being corrupt and greedy.
Unless the government takes immediate action to rectify the
situation by simplifying the procedures, it is feared that people
will eventually be deterred from applying for land use licenses,
he said. (bas)