Low cost apartments planned at industrial estates

JAKARTA (JP): The government announced yesterday that it is requiring industrial states in the Jakarta area to provide land at discounted rates and also providing financing for the construction of 2,000 low-cost apartments.

The plan seeks to address the acute housing shortage and simultaneously reduce the long commutes to work that are a factor in Jakarta's traffic problems.

The greater Jakarta area, which covers the industrial towns of Tangerang, Bogor and Bekasi, has been selected for the pilot project, formally begun yesterday with the signing of a decree involving four cabinet ministers.

State Minister of People's Housing Akbar Tanjung explained that the 2,000 low cost apartments will be built by private developers, who, while they will be making a profit, will be required to sell the units at prices set by the government.

BTN, the government-owned savings bank and PT Astek, the government's insurance company, will assist in financing the construction and with home-ownership loans.

Owners of industrial estates in the area will be asked to give up five percent of their land at discounted prices, Akbar told reporters after the signing ceremony of the joint decree at the Ministry of Manpower office.

Besides Akbar, the other signatories were Coordinating Minister for Industry and Trade Hartarto, Minister of Manpower Abdul Latief and Minister of Industry Tungki Ariwibowo.

Two prominent businessman, Enggartiasto Lukita who chairs the Real Estate Indonesia (REI) and Aburizal Bakrie who heads the Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin), who were present at the signing ceremony had only two words to say about the program - "We're ready."

Akbar said his office had conducted a feasibility study and the first construction should begin in May or June.

A total of around 20 hectares of land in industrial estates in Jakarta and Bekasi have been earmarked for the project, he said.

He explained that the government has opted for apartments rather than houses in view of the scarcity of land in Jabotabek, the acronym for the greater Jakarta area.

Latief hailed the new workers' housing plan, saying that it may boost the drive to improve industrial efficiency and worker productivity and at least will reduce workers' travel expenses.

"If workers in Jabotabek can live in an environmentally healthy area adjacent to their work place, they will need only bicycles or go on foot to work," he said.

At present, workers in Jabotabek are living far from their work places, so they are contributing to the traffic congestions and spend a great deal on transportation.

He said the new housing program was mainly aimed at improving workers' welfare and their productivity.

"If workers' livelihoods and their productivity improve, it will also benefit their employers," he said, citing the equal partnership between workers and employers as stipulated in the Pancasila industrial relations concept.

Asked on the price of the apartments, Tanjung said they would be set at Rp 8 million ($3,800) per unit. BTN will offer low interest loans to help workers buy the apartments, he added.

Latief urged companies in the industrial estates help provide their employees with the down payments for the purchase of the apartments.

If the pilot project is successful, it will be copied in other major industrial centers in Central Java, East Java, Lampung and North Sumatra. (rms)