No funds available for planned bus terminal project

Damar Harsanto, Jakarta

East Jakarta Mayor Koesnan Abdul Halim said on Monday his administration could not proceed with the land acquisition process for the Pulo Gebang intercity bus terminal because of a lack of funds.

"There are no funds allocated (for the land acquisition) this year. That is the reason we are finding it difficult to negotiate with land owners, because we do not have the money in our pockets," he said at City Hall.

However, he said his administration had already successfully cleared about nine hectares of land for the terminal, leaving only 1.8 hectares remaining to be cleared for the terminal's gates.

The planned Rp 200-billion (US$22.5 million) bus terminal will occupy a total of 10.8 hectares.

Koesnan said the land acquisition process had come to a halt because the administration could not reach an agreement with land owners on compensation.

The owners of the remaining 1.8 hectares of land have demanded compensation double the taxable value of their property, which ranges between Rp 500,000 and Rp 600,000 per square meter in the area.

"If they insist that the administration meets their price, we will be unable to do it. I will just report to City Secretary (Ritola Tasmaya) to forget about the land and we will change the design of the entrance and exit gates of the terminal," the mayor said.

Ritola said earlier the administration was considering a redesign of the terminal because of difficulties in the land acquisition process.

He said the administration would face problems when the project was audited if it compensated owners at double the market value of their land, because the auditors would assume corruption was at play.

Construction of the bus terminal, which originally was to open in 2001, is far behind schedule. This has caused some members of City Council Commission D for development affairs to suspect irregularities, because there has been so little progress despite Rp 60 billion already being poured into the project.

The new terminal is meant to replace the overcrowded 3.3- hectare Pulogadung bus terminal. The two-story terminal will be able to serve about 1,400 buses per day and will have a direct connection to the toll road.