Misinformation to the contrary - no rebuilding in Tebet

Misinformation to the contrary - no rebuilding in Tebet

JAKARTA (JP): City councilors criticized city officials,
yesterday, over their conflicting remarks about the planning of
Tebet fire site.

"There is no consistency over the site planning of the area.
Some officials say it is designated to be a green zone, others
say it is for houses with large portions of undeveloped soil.
This conflicting information hasn't just confused the fire
victims, it has also confused us," said Sutarno, chairman of the
City Council's commission on agrarian affairs during the
commission's inspection into the fire site yesterday.

After a fire destroyed approximately 230 houses in the South
Jakarta subdistrict on Wednesday, several city top officials gave
conflicting remarks about the future of the land.

For example, Deputy to South Jakarta Mayor Zainuddin said on
Monday that, according to the city master plan, the one-hectare
fire site was slated for low-coefficient premises. This means
that housing may be built, providing that 80 percent of the land
is left undeveloped.

Because of that stipulation, said Zainuddin, the mayoralty
plan of building low-cost apartment buildings on the fire site
did not conflict with the law.

However, Harun Al Rasyid, secretary of the city
administration, said the area was part of a green zone in the
subdistrict. Thereby, he said, the municipality would fence the
area in with barbed wire, barring the fire victims from
rebuilding their premises.

In exchange for the loss of the land, the municipality would
build an apartment complex for the fire victims close to the fire
site, which was categorized as a slum area.

Governor Surjadi Soedirdja is now making official visits to
some foreign countries and was unavailable for comment.

The fire victims, which number 1,000, have turned down the
plan, preferring to rebuild on the land where they have lived for
decades after being moved from Senayan district in 1961.

The relocation followed the construction of Senayan stadium.

Sutarno said yesterday the unwillingness of the fire victims
to accept the apartment plan partly resulted from the conflicting
remarks from city officials on the future of the area.

"Thus, we'll not discuss the apartment plan before the fate of
the fire site is clear," said Sutarno.

Sutarno added the commission would ask members of the
executive branches to hold a hearing with the City Council in the
near future about the case.

Soeharto

The visit to the fire site was preceded by a hearing between
the commission and some representatives of the fire victims, led
by the neighborhood leader Tumar, at the City Council.

More than one hundred of the fire victims were waiting for the
councilors when they arrived at the fire site and immediately
engaged them in a fiery discussion.

Tebet district chief Santoso RA and West Tebet subdistrict
chief Imran M. Hasan were present at the meeting.

Some of the fire victims then hoisted the national red-white
flag and tried to hang framed pictures of President Soeharto and
Vice President Try Sutrisno on a beam suspended atop a burned
house.

The area residents immediately took down the pictures at the
request of Sutarno, who appeared angry with their action.

Some representatives of the fire victims who talked with the
councilors insisted that they were unwilling to live in
apartments. The representatives expressed themselves with strong
words which drew the applause of fellow fire victims.

They said they rejected the apartment plan because they could
not afford all the expenses that it entailed, including the rent
payments, high water bills, etc.

"Formerly, we did not have to pay rent because we lived in our
own houses," said one fire victim.

Sutarno dismissed the fire victims, saying they did not
understand the plan. He added that the apartment would belong to
them and, as such, they did not have to pay rent.

"It's clear to me that the fire victims have not been given
accurate information on the apartment plan or the site planning
of their area. That's why they blindly oppose the apartment
plan," Sutarno told reporters. (jsk)