Officials involved in land scam to be summoned
Officials involved in land scam to be summoned
TANGERANG (JP): The Tangerang Legislative Council has said it
will summon officials allegedly involved in the private
acquisition of a 10-hectare plot of state land in Babakan
subdistrict.
"Any officials proven guilty of distributing the land or
taking ownership of any of the plot deserve to be removed from
the civil service as their alleged wrongdoings have tarnished the
reputation of the administration," Council Speaker Gian Sugiharto
said on Friday.
Ownership of the plot was allegedly obtained illegally by
officials and local residents who wanted to sell it at a profit
to developer PT Mayo Waya.
The area is earmarked for development into a business center,
a shopping mall and a recreational park.
The illegal acquisition of the land began last May, when land
ownership documents issued by the National Land Agency (BPN) were
distributed to interested locals, officials and councilors.
Gian said the 10-hectare plot was worth Rp 30 billion as each
square meter had a market value of around Rp 300,000.
"Those (officials) involved must have known better that state
properties are not for sale and every state asset designated to
be used for other utilities must be reported and endorsed by the
legislative council," he said.
The councilor, however, conceded that most officials in the
local administration have been working in an environment filled
with collusion, corruption and nepotism.
"That is why we have to start enforcing the law and stop the
'lip service' of eradicating corruption and collusion," he said.
Overlapping documents and orders have been detected in the
land dispute, he said, citing that on Aug. 28, 1998 the mayoralty
issued a land-use permit for the 10-hectare plot in the name of
PT Mayo Waya, which planned to build a park, a shopping mall and
a hotel on the plot, on Dec. 8, 1998.
A permit was also issued by the Tangerang mayor on Nov. 3,
1998, and endorsed by the head of the local industrial office on
Nov. 30, 1998.
"While previously the administration issued a land use permit.
So which one is real?" Gian said.
The development plan is in accordance with Tangerang city
bylaws No. 14/1994 and No. 19/1994 on basic development and city
planning, respectively. The plot itself is in a business, office
and utility zone, while its status is that of a state property in
the form of swamps, vegetable plots, empty plots and villages.
(41/edt)