Land price problem could hamper flood canal project
Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Clearing land for the 23-kilometer East Flood Canal project to extend from Jatinegara in East Jakarta to Cilincing in North Jakarta will be a difficult process as the government and land owners have not yet reached an agreement on the land prices.
The negotiations will be tough as there is still a sharp difference between the government's offer which is based on the selling price of taxed properties, (NJOP) and the land owners, who are demanding the market price for their land or if possible even higher than that.
"The people here have made an agreement that the price of their land should be no less than Rp 1 million per square meter," Hosein, a resident at the Pulo Gebang subdistrict, Cakung district, East Jakarta, told The Jakarta Post on Saturday.
He explained that the selling price of the land in the area based on NJOP was only around Rp 300,000 per square meter, while the market price was around Rp 500,000 per square meter.
According to Hosein, who is a vegetable trader, the people are ready to negotiate with the government about the price.
Data from property consultant Panangian Simanungkalit and Associates, shows that land prices in the four districts -- Jatinegara, Duren Sawit, Cakung, and Cilincing -- which will be affected by the project, range from Rp 100,000 to Rp 1,500,000 per square meter.
It confirmed that the market price of land in Cakung was around Rp 500,000. The higher priced land was in Jatinegara, East Jakarta, while the lowest was in Cilincing, North Jakarta.
It indicated, however, that the price could go down by up to 50 percent if the land was used for a public facility.
Jakarta Governor Sutiyoso said that the purchasing of the land in preparation for land clearing was a difficult process. He claimed that the people tended to hike the land price as high as possible when they knew that the government was going to use it.
"Just imagine, for example, the selling price based on the NJOP is only Rp 300,000 per meter square. But after they know that we will use it, they will increase the price to Rp 3 million," Sutiyoso told the Post on Saturday.
"Therefore, land clearing is one of the problems in implementing the projects," he added.
Bambang Soetjipto, leader of the Ciliwung-Cisadane flood control project of the Department of Public Works, said there were around 5,000 families who would need to be relocated.
The East Flood Canal will span 23 kilometers from Jatinegara district in East Jakarta to Cilincing in North Jakarta. It will have a width of 70 meters and have roads constructed on its sides.
Mochtar Achmad, head of a neighborhood unit in Pulo Gebang said the government had measured all the land and checked all the properties in four neighborhoods in Pulo Gebang subdistricts in November, 2001.
Mochtar said there were around 150 families in the four neighborhoods whose houses would be affected by the projects. He also said that since the land had been measured, the people had not repaired their houses or built new buildings in the area.
"We are now waiting for the government decision. We are ready to move if the price offered by the government is reasonable," he added.
Sutiyoso said that the central government had estimated the fund needed to develop the East Flood Canal and to improve the condition of the West Flood Canal.
"Based on the estimation made by the State Minister for National Development Planning Kwik Kian Gie, we need some Rp 17 trillion for the projects which will be implemented in stages over a period of 10 years."
The East Flood Canal is part of the government's plan to build a half-circle-like canal along the northern part of the city that will function to take in the water from its 13 rivers, which originate in the highlands of Bogor and Depok in West Java and empty into the Java Sea off North Jakarta. The rivers contribute to the floods in the city.
The other part called the West Flood Canal, which is 14 kilometers from Jatinegara district in East Jakarta to Penjaringan district in North Jakarta was constructed in 1924 by the Dutch colonial government. It needs to be upgraded as it has become very shallow.