On land use permits

I don't know why when The Jakarta Post reports on some new environmental degradation (City reaches new depths as land use plan fails to sink in, March 1), the officials quoted always seem so surprised. Aren't they the same officials that turn a blind eye to regulations and the same officials who issue the permits for the construction of ill-planned buildings?

You have only to look at Kemang Raya to know that the land use permit system is seriously compromised. Why else would there be six new multi-storey buildings and three more under construction in the past two years with no heed given to traffic and parking? No heed given to economics either, as many of the new buildings can't attract tenants and now sit like blank eyes, blighting the urban landscape.

Let's hope that environmentalist Ahmad Syafrudin's sensible recommendation to use the master plan as the reference for building permits is accepted by the city administration before some disaster befalls us.

LUCY S. MIZE, Jakarta