Ministry wants delay of Jonggol township plan

JAKARTA (JP): The Ministry of Forestry and Plantations has requested that a 30,000-hectare township project linked to one of Soeharto's son be put on hold until the developer settles a dispute with the ministry.

Director General of Inventory and Forest Land Use Soebagjo Hadisepoetro said yesterday that PT Bukit Jonggol Astri, the developer of the township project located in the Jonggol district of Bogor, about 30 kilometers to the southeast of Jakarta, had not fulfilled its obligation to provide forest areas in exchange for the site used for the project.

He said the ministry agreed in 1996 to allow PT Bukit Jonggol to use 3,100 of state forestry areas as part of its 30,000- hectare project. Under the agreement, PT Bukit Jonggol Asri agreed to swap the 3,100-hectare forestry areas with 6,300- hectare forestry areas in West Java's regencies of Cianjur, Tasikmalaya and Garut.

Later, the consortium proposed that it replaced the 3,100 hectares from the government with the same amount of land.

But Soebagjo said the 3,100-hectare area given by the consortium was not a forest area as stipulated in the contract.

"The company has not fulfilled its obligation," he told a news conference. "We're giving them a one-month dateline starting now. If they fail to settle the problem, the ministry will revoke the deal," he said.

The consortium, set up by Soeharto's second son Bambang Trihatmodjo with Kaestindo Group, plans to develop a township on 30,000 hectares covering 24 villages in Jonggol.

According to the plan, the self-sufficient city would be the biggest housing project in Greater Jakarta.

Soebagjo said ministry officials would soon check the swap deal with PT Kia Timor Motor in Cikampek, West Java.

Under the deal, PT Kia Timor, partly owned by Soeharto's youngest son Hutomo Mandala Putra, would build a 73-hectare car manufacturing plant in the Perum Perhutani area.

Meanwhile, Soebagjo said his office also planed to directly revoke permits and concessions on plantations which had been neglected.

He said the ministry had ordered its provincial offices in every province to revoke permits of negligent companies.

"But until now, only East Kalimantan forestry provincial office has dared to do that," he said. (gis)