Sarana Jaya expects Rp 3b profit in 2001
JAKARTA (JP): City-owned property company PD Pembangunan Sarana Jaya expected to secure Rp 3 billion (US$300,000) in profit this year after suffering continuous losses over the past few years due to the prolonged economic crisis, the firm's president Tebyan A'maari said on Tuesday.
"The profit is expected to be gained from the selling of several idle plots of land," Tebyan told reporters.
The company suffered Rp 1 billion in losses last year and Rp 4 billion in 1999.
He said among the assets which had been sold was a 3.2 hectare plot of land in the Cibubur area, East Jakarta, at the price of Rp 27.2 billion or Rp 850,000 per square meter.
He said the company gained a profit of Rp 300,000 a square meter as the market price of the land was Rp 550,000.
He denied that the land was sold for Rp 1 million per square meter.
"If there was a company which wanted to buy the land for Rp 1 million a square meter, we would cancel the sale of the land," he remarked.
The controversial case came to the attention of the City Council and local media last month, following a report that the company had sold the plot to a private company, PT Kurnia Philio Selaras, and distributed some of the money received from the sale to its employees.
The private firm reportedly plans to build a shopping center valued at an estimated Rp 27.2 billion, a concert hall and public facilities.
According to the city's spatial plan, the 3.2 hectare plot of land in Cibubur was designed for a city park, with coefficient buildings limited to 20 percent of the area with buildings no higher than four stories.
Tebyan admitted that some Rp 120 million had been distributed to his employees, but this was considered operational costs and was legal.
He explained that there was a governor's decree stipulating that 3 percent of the total transaction of any plot of land belonging to Sarana Jaya would be considered operational costs.
Several councillors, however, criticized the distribution of the money, as the company still has a huge debt amounting to Rp 59.6 billion with the city-owned Bank DKI.
Tebyan denied that several of his employees had been summoned by the Jakarta Provincial Prosecutors' Office in connection with the selling of the Cibubur land.
"So far none of our employees have been summoned by the prosecutors' office. We hope none of them will be summoned in the future," he said.
He admitted, though, that some of his subordinates were questioned by the city's inspectorate office, but the latter found no irregularities in the land sale.
Tebyan said the firm also plans to sell a 20-hectare plot of land in Pulo Jahe area in Cakung district, North Jakarta.
He refused to mention the price of the land since they were still in the process of negotiation with a private firm, which would build a housing complex on the site.
The firm also planned to rebuild the five-story Kebayoran Plaza shopping center in South Jakarta, which was destroyed during the 1998 riots, he said.
"We are still designing the plaza, hopefully the construction can start this year," he said without mentioning the cost of the project.
The project would be offered to private developers through a tender under the build-operate-transfer system (BOT), he said.
He said that other plots of land that would be sold in the future include 20 hectares of land in Pondok Aren, Ciledug, Tangerang, 20 hectares of land in Pondok Kacang, Bintaro, South Jakarta, and a 5,000 square meter plot of land in Lebak Bulus, South Jakarta. (jun)