More campaigns needed on apartments: Surjadi

More campaigns needed on apartments: Surjadi

JAKARTA (JP): Governor Surjadi Soedirdja said that city
administration officers should intensify public presentation on
apartments and their benefits.

"The public presentation is needed to make people understand
the necessity of apartments and then they will cooperate and be
willing to live in apartments," Surjadi Soedirdja said during his
weekly visit to several areas in Central Jakarta yesterday.

He explained that sooner or later a great number of Jakartans
should live in apartments due to the ever increasing shortage of
land in the capital.

"By building apartments we could also build public facilities,
such as parks and sport fields," the governor said.

Commenting on the incident in Bendungan Hilir in which a low-
cost apartment will be built, the governor stressed that the land
belongs to the government and that people have claimed and rented
it to other people.

"They refused to give it back so that the government could use
the land," Soedirdja said.

A physical clash between the city administration officers and
the residents of Bendungan Hilir fire site occurred early this
week when the residents opposed the development of low-cost
apartments building in the area.

The incident began when residents resisted efforts by the city
officers to demolish their temporary houses.

The governor has denied allegations that his officers cut Rp
400,000 (US$190) given by the city administration as allowance
to help the residents rent temporary housing pending the
completion of the apartments.

The governor also ordered Central Jakarta Mayor Abdul Kahfi to
carefully record people who have first priority to get the
apartments to avoid the possibility of the wrong people getting
there first. (yns)