No more villas being built in Puncak

BOGOR (JP): Not a single house or holiday villa has been built in the Puncak hill resort since the launch of the Bogor regency's aggressive operations against illegal construction in the area late last year, an official said yesterday.

Regency spokesman Denny M. Moechry told The Jakarta Post that of the 500 houses and villas known to lack permits, 150 had been demolished.

The main objective of demolishing the illegally built houses and villas was to prevent further damage to water catchment areas. The drive to preserve Puncak came in the wake of major floods in Jakarta last February,

Denny explained the demolished buildings were those built on plots of land either belonging to the state, located in water catchment areas or erected without proper building permits.

The biggest difficulty in the implementation of the demolition operation, Denny said, was when officials learned the illegal houses or villas belonged to "strong people" with links to high- ranking and influential officials.

He said that many of the illegal buildings, which had not been demolished, were owned by people in this category.

"How can we demolish them if the regency officers, including myself, are continuously terrorized?" he asked.

Limited funds was another hindrance. "The demolition has practically stopped over the last few months, due to the limited availability of money," Denny said.

At least Rp 4 million (US$1,428) was needed for each operation, the spokesman said. Costs included hiring a bulldozer, buying food for the officers involved and paying the workers' transportation fees.

The money, which came from the regency's budget and the regent's operational funds, had run out, he said. "The Bogor regency has no idea when the operation will start again," he said.

Even though the demolition had been temporarily halted, Denny expressed satisfaction that, unlike in the past, the public had increasingly heeded the Bogor regency's actions.

"New buildings used to emerge once we finished demolishing others. Now, however, no more building projects are carried out there."

Moreover, Denny said, the number of sales of land plots had also fallen sharply. "Wealthy people possibly think there is no use buying land in Puncak if it can no longer be utilized as the land has been set aside for water catchment areas." (24/hhr)