Regency demolished nine Puncak villas

Regency demolished nine Puncak villas

BOGOR, West Java (JP): The Bogor regency authority demolished
Friday nine luxury villas built without permits in the Puncak
hill resort, Antara reported.

The nine villas, all located in Tugu Selatan village, Cisarua
subdistrict, were estimated to be worth Rp 5 billion (US$2.1
million).

The head of Bogor's inspectorate office, Fauzi Si'in, who led
the demolition team, said the buildings were torn down because
the owners had ignored three official orders to demolish the
properties.

The villas are illegal because they were built in an area
earmarked for conservation purposes and as a catchment.

Friday's demolition brought the total number of Puncak villas
bulldozed in the last five months to 40, Antara said.

Bogor regency says there are around 500 buildings, including
luxury villas, that do not have permits.

"We urge owners of other buildings and villas to voluntarily
demolish their properties. If the (administration) team does it,
then there will be nothing left of the buildings," Fauzi said,
Antara reported.

The Bogor regency administration finally started clamping down
on illegal properties in Puncak, many of which are owned by
wealthy and politically powerful people in Jakarta, after
receiving the green light this year from President Soeharto.

The failure to control the growth of property in Puncak has
been blamed for the massive and destructive floods which swept
Jakarta in February.

As of July, the Bogor regency has reclaimed and cleared around
100 hectares of land.

Bisnis Indonesia daily reported on Saturday that many of the
remaining illegal villas that have not been demolished are owned
by high-ranking officials in Jakarta, apparently because the
Bogor administration was still waiting for clearance.

Fauzi said that all illegal property in Puncak will,
eventually, be demolished. He said the delays were because the
administration has other priorities. (26)