Processing of demolition permit revised
JAKARTA (JP): The city administration is evaluating permit processing procedures to see why developers are tending to demolish city property to make way for construction projects.
Governor Surjadi Soedirdja said on Monday that the evaluation is intended to answer the question as to why an increasing number of the city's assets are being demolished by developers even though they do not yet hold the necessary documents.
He said that based on observation, the developers in question have all met the requirements for procedures and correspondence in the processing of documents.
He said that he suspected that the concerned personnel at related city agencies may be hampering the permit procedures because the processing of many documents is not completed on time.
"City administration personnel might have intentionally hampered the issuance of permits to developers," Surjadi told reporters at City Hall.
"We know that all developers want to build their projects as soon as possible because their financing is derived from bank loans which bear high interest rates," he said.
Therefore, some of them have been forced to violate the existing rules by demolishing property even though they do not yet have the proper documents, he added.
"We are determined to solve this problem immediately," he said.
Recently, three developers have breached regulations by demolishing city property without prior consent from the Governor's Office or the City Council. Ironically, the property was torn down before they prepared new buildings to replace the demolished ones and to accommodate the students and other residents, who are affected by their projects.
The first incident occurred when PT Catur Swasakti Utama (CSU) destroyed a school building at Menteng Atas in Kuningan, South Jakarta, to make way for the establishment of the swanky Taman Rasuna Said apartments. Over 300 elementary school students were displaced and forced to move to nearby schools.
While the municipal administration was still mulling what kind of penalties were to be imposed on PT CSU, PT Kredosindo Perkasa dismantled other school buildings to build the Sudirman Tower condominiums behind Atmajaya University. About 400 elementary, junior and senior high school students were moved to separate schools in Srengseng, Kalibata and Karet.
The latest violation was that by PT Duta Buana Permai, which is currently constructing the 20-story Pavilion Park apartment building in Karet, Central Jakarta.
The governor said, however, that the city administration cannot fully blame the developers for these violations.
"We will remain calm and not become too emotional in dealing with such deviations," he said.
The municipal administration will continue encouraging investment projects in the city, he added. "It would only worsen the city's investment situation, if the projects whose developers violate regulations are forced to halt temporarily," he said.
He emphasized, however, that the city administration will continue penalizing those found to have bypassed the permit processing procedures, he said. (yns/hhr)