Property obligation asked to be removed

Property obligation asked to be removed

JAKARTA (JP): City councilors called on Tuesday for the
removal of an article in the draft bylaw that allows building
developers to pay money in lieu of an obligation to provide 20
percent of their land for low-cost housing.

Golkar councilors Fatommy Asaari and Ali Wongso Sinaga, and
Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) councilor Lukman Mokoginta said
separately that the compensation proposal was against the city
administration's policy to provide low-cost housing for poor
Jakartans.

"The amount of the compensation is insufficient to construct
low-cost houses as the cost of the land is always higher than the
money the developers pay to compensate for the obligation,"
Fatommy said.

He suggested that the article in the draft bylaw, presented by
a city council team last month, be scrapped.

Ali supported Fatommy's statement, saying that building
developers should be "forced" to provide land for low-cost
houses.

But Lukman said the building developers could still escape the
obligation if their land was less than 5,000 square meters.

The city housing agency has predicted that the city will need
250,000 units of low-cost houses in 2007. (ind)