More low-cost apartments needed

JAKARTA (JP): A deputy governor wants PD Pembangunan Sarana Jaya, a city-owned construction company, to build more low-cost apartments to meet the escalating demand for housing among the low-income bracket.

"The company should not only anticipate big opportunities in the property business but should build more low-cost apartments instead," said Tb. M. Rais, the deputy governor for economic and development affairs.

Rais made the statement during the inauguration of several high ranking city officials, including PD Sarana Jaya's new operation director, M. Zaidani Hamdan, at a ceremony at City Hall on Tuesday.

Up until now, the city-owned company has constructed eight low-cost apartments with a total of 2,934 units.

The apartments, some of which are rented on a daily basis, are located in Pondok Kelapa, Pondok Bambu and Cipinang, East Jakarta; in Karang Anyar and Rawa Sari, Central Jakarta; in Penjaringan, North Jakarta, and in Cengkareng and Tambora, West Jakarta.

PD Sarana Jaya's president, Thamrin Djamain, earlier said that the company would refurbish a dilapidated low-cost apartment complex located in the Rawa Bilal area of Tebet, South Jakarta, which was built in 1982. (03)