Mayor apologizes for land clearance

JAKARTA (JP): Bogor Mayor Eddy Gunardi has apologized to residents whose buildings were demolished under his leadership.

"We do not intend to make the people poor. What we have done is just for the sake of having a nice and lovely town," the mayor said Monday during the 513th anniversary of the town, which is famous for its high annual rate of rainfall.

Among the buildings demolished under during Eddy's term in office was a mansion worth around Rp 1 billion (US$447,000) which he believed had been built in contravention of regulations.

The house was put up with no building permits at a location earmarked for road construction.

Although the Bandung Administrative Court, whose jurisdiction covers the area, had ruled to postpone the demolition, Eddy went ahead with the plan to demolish the house. (bsr)