Mayor urged to get tough against illegal builders

JAKARTA (JP): A City Council member has urged South Jakarta Mayor Pardjoko to take consistently harsh measures against residents constructing business structures on land earmarked for residential sites.

Saud Rahman, a councilor of Commission D in charge of development affairs, said over the weekend the mayor must stop the residents from continuing their business activities on Jl. Kemang Raya, Jl. Bangka and Jl. Ampera.

Saud said the land on which their business buildings stand are allocated under law as "yellow area" residential districts.

Many of those areas have been turned into business districts, with pubs, restaurants, discotheques, shopping centers and apartments constructed there.

In a discussion with owners of the buildings recently, the council found that the businessmen had secured official permits for the establishment of their property, Saud said.

South Jakarta Mayor Pardjoko has said many times that the South Jakarta mayoralty is consistent on maintaining the areas as residential sites. The mayoralty is collecting data on the violations, including the issuance of the permits, he said.

Governor Surjadi Soedirdja ordered all city officials recently to be consistent in the implementation of all regulations.

"All regulations made through a democratic process, must be implemented authoritatively," the governor told his officials, including all mayors, as well as all heads of municipal offices.

He told the newly-installed head of the City Development Supervision Office, Hartanto, to improve the development control system.

He said that many buildings have been set up without building permits because the procedures for the processing of building permits and other related licenses are complicated and time- consuming.

"Improve the service to the public in order to maintain the best possible image of the city," he said. (32)