Park agency to buy land at higher prices
Ahmad Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Afraid that it cannot reach its target, the City Park Agency is planning to increase the amount it will pay for land it wants to buy for the development of 15 small parks in slum areas in 15 subdistricts in the city's five mayoralties.
Agency head Mauritz Napitupulu claimed it would not be able to reach its target to create 17 parks this year if the agency did not increase the price above the sale value for tax object (NJOP).
"But it is not a markup. We will conduct it transparently," Mauritz told reporters at City Hall on Tuesday.
He said the NJOP was made intentionally lower than the market price so the residents, mostly slum dwellers, could pay lower land taxes.
But he said the residents refused to sell their land according to the NJOP and demanded the market price.
"If we bought the land according to the NJOP, the residents could not buy new land and a house," Mauritz said.
He admitted that according to the presidential decree on land purchase, the land should be bought according to the NJOP.
"But the decree stipulated that the price could be negotiated with the land owner. So we can increase it as long as it is conducted transparently," he said.
He hoped that he would not be summoned by the Jakarta Prosecutor's Office for marking up the land price or violating the decree.
"Land purchasing is often halted because officials are afraid to be summoned by prosecutors," he said.
The city administration has allocated Rp 5.4 billion this year for the development of 17 parks, but so far, only two parks measuring 500 square meters each, have been built.
The two parks, which cost about Rp 200 million each, are located in Rorotan subdistrict, North Jakarta, and in Kalisari subdistrict, East Jakarta.
The agency plans to develop 15 other parks in the subdistricts of Kali Baru, Semper and Warakas in North Jakarta; Rawa Bunga and Cipinang in East Jakarta; Ciganjur, Pasar Minggu and Menteng Dalam in South Jakarta; Kamal, Keagungan, Kota Bambu Utara and Tambora in West Jakarta; and Bungur, Harapan Mulia and Karang Anyar in Central Jakarta.
Last year, the administration built 14 parks for the poor, calling them "interactive parks" in an effort to expand green and open areas in the city.
Mauritz said the parks, which also incorporated playgrounds, aimed to avoid more social problems in the slum areas due to the lack of public space for interaction.
"I urge people to use it for interaction not for other purpose such as illegal activities," he said.