Manggarai residents want to move into apartments

Manggarai residents want to move into apartments

JAKARTA (JP): Governor Surjadi Soedirdja has warmly welcomed the intention of Manggarai subdistrict residents, South Jakarta, to live in low-cost apartments, currently being aggressively promoted by the municipality.

"It is a good thing that you understand the benefits of living in apartments and you realize that living in slum areas along the river banks is not good for your health and the environment," Surjadi told the residents on Friday evening.

The residents told the governor at a meeting that they are willing to move from slum areas to a better place as soon as the administration builds apartments for them.

The governor told them that city administration is planning to build more low-cost apartments in a bid to help improve the condition of people living in slum areas in the city.

"Vertical housing is considered to be the best alternative in the city these days due to the limited availability of land," he said.

He reiterated that living in low-cost apartments is much healthier than in slum areas. The apartments are equipped with various public and social facilities, including a sports field and green belt areas.

"Through such highrise buildings, it is also easier for the city administration to design the city plan, thereby enabling the municipality to create the city as beautiful as other major capitals throughout the world," Surjadi said.

The governor reminded them that besides being unhealthy, living on slum areas also ruins the environment.

"Floods in the city are caused by people who do not care about their environment. Many people living along the river banks are indiscriminately throwing garbage into the rivers," he said.

During the visit to the subdistrict, Governor Surjadi also interviewed two residents who had received funds from the city administration to improve people's welfare.

The funds distributed under the program Inpres Desa Tertinggal (poor villages aid) to poor families, who must in turn repay the money in installments within 10 months.

Memet and Poniyem, who each received Rp 200,000, told the governor that the funds helped their business grow rapidly.

"After I received the funds my daily revenues increase sharply to Rp 15,000 per day. With this I can finance the studies of my children in high school," Memet, a beverage seller, said.

Both recipients said that they have not yet found any difficulty in repaying the funds and they claimed that they have never been late in paying it. (yns)