Minister defends housing site decision

Minister defends housing site decision

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Forestry Djamaludin Suryohadikusumo
yesterday defended his decision to allow a private sector company
to develop housing on 6,100 hectares of state-owned land in
Jonggol, West Java.

Djamaludin said yesterday that the land is not a water
catchment site, nor is it designated as a protected forest area.

He cited Presidential Decree No. 48/1983 on Jonggol district,
which falls within the jurisdiction of the Bogor regency. The
decree states that Jonggol district is not part of the Jakarta
water catchment known as the Bogor-Puncak-Cianjur, or Bopunjur,
area.

Djamaludin said the land acquired by the private developer, PT
Bukit Jonggol Asri, is classified as limited-production forest,
where people live and where felling of trees is permissible.

"We would never allow a developer to take over protected
forest land, even if it were occupied by squatters," Djamaludin
said.

He was responding to news reports that the land acquired by
Bukit Jonggol was part of Jakarta's water catchment.

Djamaludin issued a letter in September, 1995 approving the
acquisition. In response, members of the House of Representatives
urged the government to reconsider the decision to allow housing
to be developed in the area.

Djamaludin confirmed yesterday that the 6,100 hectares of land
acquired by Bukit Jonggol is currently owned by the Perum
Perhutani state-owned forestry firm, which operates in Java.

The property is presently occupied and cultivated by local
people.

"The people have been living on and cultivating that land for
33 years now... There are hardly any forests there and most of it
is fields and food crop plantations," he said.

Djamaludin, who was accompanied by Director General of Forest
Inventory and Management Sumahadi explained that as the owner of
the land, Perhutani will ask the developer to provide land in
another area in compensation.

Regulations require that compensation be provided on the basis
of an equal 1:1 ratio when the land acquired is considered a
settled area under dispute. This means that for every 1 square
meter of land acquired, the party taking over the land must
provide 1 square meter in another area.

Compensation for land earmarked for public facilities is based
on a 1:1 ratio. The only exception is when the facilities are
categorized as "strategic projects". In this case, the ratio
would be 1:2, meaning that twice as much land would be required
to replace the acquired land. If the acquired land is to be used
for business or profit-seeking purposes, the ratio applied is at
least 1:3.

Djamaludin said that Bukit Jonggol has offered to replace the
land in Jonggol with several plots of land in Cianjur regency
(4,276 hectares), Tasikmalaya regency (2,300 hectares) and Ciamis
regency (1,458 hectares).

The developer has also agreed to give the local people a
considerable sum in compensation, based on mutual agreement.

He said the government will consistently keep its commitment
to carrying out policies which support land and water
conservation, particularly in the Bogor, Puncak and Cianjur
areas.

Districts included in the that area are Ciawi, Cibinong,
Cimanggis, Cisarua, Citeureup, Gunung Putri, Gunung Sindur,
Kedung Halang, Parung, Sawangan and Semplak in Bogor regency;
Cugenang and Pacet in Cianjur regency; and Ciputat in Tangerang
regency. (pwn)