People living on E. Canal site face eviction
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The fate of people whose land and homes are affected by the long- delayed East Canal Project now appears sealed as Jakarta's governor, Sutiyoso, has signed regulations allowing their forcible eviction if they refuse the compensation offered by the city administration.
"Governor Sutiyoso has signed two decrees based on Presidential Regulation No. 36/2005. The decrees specifically state the amount of time required to assess compensation," City Secretary Ritola Tasmaya told The Jakarta Post on Monday.
Presidential Regulation No. 36/2005 on compulsory land acquisition for public projects enables the state to revoke land titles if this is deemed necessary in the public interest.
Despite opposition from some groups, Sutiyoso signed Gubernatorial Decree No. 1222/2005 on the establishment of a land acquisition committee for public projects and Gubernatorial Decree No. 83/2005 setting out guidelines for the assessment of compensation for land acquired in the public interest.
Based on the decrees, the committee is empowered to determine the form and amount of compensation for land acquired for public projects should negotiations with landowners fail to lead to an agreement within 90 days.
The compensation provided to landowners in exchange for the land value, development value and agricultural value of their property can take the form of cash and/or other land and/or other buildings/residences.
Article 4(3) of Gubernatorial Decree No. 83/2005 provides that the committee, presided over by the governor at the provincial level or the relevant mayor at the municipal level, is required to report any objections from landowners, and the reasons for these objections, to the Jakarta governor, who is vested with the power to either accept the committee's recommendations or revise them.
Should a landowner reject the governor's determination, the matter then goes to the district court for a final ruling on the adequacy of compensation. In the meantime, however, the administration is free to compulsorily acquire title and evict the landowner, by force if necessary.
Sutiyoso's administration has said that it will apply the Presidential Regulation to the acquisition of land for the East Flood Canal project, which it is hoped will help control the annual flooding in the capital.
The project has become mired in land acquisition problems as most residents whose land and properties are affected by the project in areas such as Marunda, Duren Sawit, Pulogebang and Cipinang have demanded more compensation.
Anhar Safrudin, a representative of residents in Pulogebang subdistrict, East Jakarta, said in May that he wanted the administration to pay Rp 1.5 million per square meter for their land -- much more than the amounts on offer, which range from Rp 400,000 to Rp 800,000 per square meter.
The Presidential Regulation states that the compensation offered must take into account the latest taxable value (NJOP) of the land. Taxable values in Pulogebang range between Rp 464,000 and Rp 820,000 per square meter.
When, or perhaps if, completed, the East Flood Canal will stretch for more than 23 kilometers from Cipinang district in East Jakarta to Marunda in North Jakarta, and will be between 100 and 300 meters wide. It will also link up with the existing West Flood Canal to create a semicircular canal that will channel runoff water from the 13 rivers flowing through the capital, which has seen regular flooding for many years.
The central government is shouldering the burden of constructing the canal, while the city administration is responsible for land acquisition.