Low-cost apartment tenants protest daily rent hike
Low-cost apartment tenants protest daily rent hike
JAKARTA (JP): A delegation of some 30 tenants of the
Penjaringan low-cost apartment in North Jakarta protested on
Thursday the daily rent increase by city-owned property developer
PD Sarana Pembangunan Jaya.
"We come from low-income families. It's hard for us to pay the
new fees in the current economic situation," spokesman to the
apartment tenants, Andi Jefruddin, told city councillors of
Commission D for development affairs in a meeting.
"We will continue paying the rent accordingly to the old rate
until the economic condition recovers," he said.
Commission secretary Bimo Hastoro supported the tenants
stance, saying that they had the right to reject the hike.
Ironically, although they claimed to be from the lower-income
brackets, some delegation members were seen talking to their
colleagues through their cellular phones.
PD Sarana Pembangunan Jaya management said later in the
afternoon that the hike was inevitable as it had to cover the
subsidies for the tenants, which amounted to 40 percent of its
revenue, and also to anticipate possible losses.
The company's head of rental flat department, Soejarto, said
it decided to hike the daily rental fee from June.
"But, we will give a 40 percent discount from the new fee
until December," he said in a media conference.
The fee varies accordingly to the apartment's size and type. A
flat of 18 square meters, for example, rents for Rp 1,200 (13 US
cents) to Rp 2,550 a day. The new rental fee is between Rp 2,100
and Rp 3,240 a day.
The company manages 3,300 low-cost apartments in seven
locations in the city. Other locations are in Pondok Kelapa,
Pondok Bambu, and Cipinang subdistricts in East Jakarta, and Jati
Rawa Sari, Karang Anyar and Tambora subdistricts in Central
Jakarta.
Soejarto said the tenants did not have the grounds to protest
the new fees as most of them had agreed on the fee hike.
"Only some tenants in Penjaringan have refused to pay the
higher fee. We have 13 blocks in Penjaringan and only tenants of
E, F, and G blocks rejected the hike," he said.
"Meanwhile, tenants in Tambora have asked for more discount
from the new rental fees.
"But, we have yet to decide on the request because we have
given a 40 percent discount from June until December," he added.
He revealed that the company loses Rp 150 million to Rp 200
million per month to subsidize all the units.
"The company has to pay the utility bills which haven't been
raised since 1988, while the providers have hiked their rates
several times," he said.
"Besides, the tenants of the three blocks have never paid for
the service," he added.
Separately, company development director Kemal Basha told The
Jakarta Post that the tenants didn't pay for taxes, sinking fund,
or depreciation.
"The company has to pay all of those expenses. The tenants
should pay for the facilities they have been using," he said.
"We have also asked the central government to abolish the
taxes on low-cost rental flats, but to no avail," Kemal added.
He said managing the low-cost rental apartments was not a
revenue center, but more a burden to the company.
"Imagine, there is no other place in the world where you can
get a room with all the utilities, a kitchen, and a bathroom for
only 15 US cents per day," he said.
"Managing the low-cost apartments is not our core business,
but we have to do it because the city administration says so.
Still, we have to be sure we don't suffer losses from the
business," he added.
Kemal welcomed Penjaringan tenants' demand that the management
of the low-cost apartments be transferred to the City Housing
Agency, which also manages several low-cost apartments.
"It will be a relief for us because we don't have to pay the
subsidy anymore," Kemal said. (nvn)