REI's lawyers ready to defend members

REI's lawyers ready to defend members

JAKARTA: The Indonesian Real Estate Developers Association (REI) stated here on Friday that it would be the first to sanction its members found guilty of violating property law, but it vowed to defend them if they were not guilty.

Chairman of REI's law and license department Sadeni Hendarman said that nobody should blame property developers for the recent flooding that paralyzed the city for several days early this month, without verifying the facts first.

"But if they are found to have violated the law, REI will be the first to sanction them," he said, without elaborating what the sanctions might be.

He was referring to Law No. 4/1992, which requires developers to comply with technical, ecological, and administrative requirements, to monitor the environment, and implement environmental management.

Housing projects were also blamed recently as the main cause of flooding as they had been built on protected green areas, violating the city's master plan.

But, he said, before starting their housing projects, the developers had already obtained official permits from the government and had carried out environmental impact analyses (Amdal). -- JP