Minister Ara Confirms Tanah Abang Land Is State-Owned: 'I Checked BPN'
Bekasi, CNBC Indonesia - Housing Minister Maruarar Sirait has spoken about the latest developments regarding land near Tanah Abang Station in Central Jakarta, which will be used for a subsidised housing project for low-income households (MBR).
The minister, commonly known as Ara, stated that the planned construction of the rusun on the land is ongoing and confirmed it is state property.
‘Regarding the Tanah Abang land, we will proceed with building the rusun. We met with Mr Hercules before, and it is state land. He also wanted to confirm it is state land,’ Ara said when interviewed at Meikarta, Bekasi Regency, on Tuesday (26 May 2026).
His team has also verified directly with PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI), the State-Owned Enterprise Regulatory Body (BP BUMN), and the Ministry of Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning/National Land Agency (ATR/BPN) to confirm the land’s ownership.
‘I have also checked directly with KAI’s CEO (Bobby Rasyidin), the head of BP BUMN (Dony Oskaria), confirming it is state land. Most importantly, I verified with the Ministry of ATR/BPN, both the minister (Nusron Wahid) and the director-general, regarding the land conflict, and they confirmed it is state-owned property. Therefore, please pray for us as we will soon begin construction of the rusun there,’ he explained.
According to directives from Housing Task Force Chairman Hashim Djojohadikusumo, the Tanah Abang rusun will be allocated for low-income households (MBR) and middle-income households (MBT).
‘Regarding allocation, the Housing Task Force Chairman provided guidance that there will be various allocations, including for MBR and middle-income households (MBT), as well as other combinations,’ he added.
It is worth noting that the Tanah Abang rusun will be constructed using corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds from PT Astra International Tbk. Additionally, Astra will act as the contractor for the project.
Furthermore, each unit will comprise two bedrooms, meaning the subsidised housing project will provide adequate accommodation for 4,000 people.