Mayor wants control over development intensified

JAKARTA (JP): The City Council has instructed the South Jakarta mayor to get control of development in the South Jakarta mayoralty and to cut back on the threats of demolition.

Helmy AR Syihab, the chairman of the council's Commission C which oversees financial affairs, said yesterday that the large number of demolition letters issued by the mayor indicates that building control is still lax in the mayoralty.

"The construction of the buildings took several months, during which time mayoralty officials could have monitored their construction," he said.

Helmy regretted the mayor's instruction to demolish so many buildings. "Those buildings reflect public capability," he said, adding that demolition means wasting time and money.

He said the mayor should not only resort to demolition. "I think a set of precautions would be more effective than demolishing the illegal buildings".

South Jakarta Mayor Pardjoko recently said that in the last two years he has issued 3,600 letters instructing that buildings constructed without the proper documents be demolished.

In response to the one-roof service system of building permit procedures implemented by the South Jakarta mayor, Helmy, who is the deputy chairman of the council's United Development Party faction, praised the system.

"Although the system does not make significant changes, it provides better services to the public," he said.

He urged the four other mayors to implement the same system as their South Jakarta counterpart, though suitable to their areas.(32)