'Several interests behind withdrawal on land-use ban'
JAKARTA (JP): The loss of profit and power from issuing land permits is one probable reason behind the withdrawal of a policy stopping the issuance of land-use permits, a researcher said.
Endang Sukendar of the Bandung-based Akatiga analysis center on land, labor and the informal sector, said yesterday there was no acceptable reason for the withdrawal of a policy issued last October by the National Land Agency.
"Political and economic interests are most likely behind the new policy announced on Feb.18," he said.
On Oct. 3 the agency instructed its authorities in Bogor, Tangerang and Bekasi not to issue any more land-use permits for housing projects before an evaluation of the use of existing permits was conducted. The policy was aimed at curbing the neglect of land by housing developers.
State Minister of Agrarian Affairs/Chairman of the National Land Agency Soni Harsono had said there was ample land for housing until 2018. He said the agency had issued permits for 92,298 hectares of land, out of which only 13,276 hectares had been developed.
"The October policy must have hurt many authorities who lost power and levies from the issue of permits," said Endang, coauthor of a 1996 book titled Land as Commodity, A Critical Analysis on Land Policy of the New Order Government.
The minister's Feb. 18 letter on guidelines to control land- use permits for housing only said the evaluation "showed a wide variation in progress (of developers that had been issued permits), from those that have not gained land at all to those that have already completed housing projects according to schedule".
It listed requisites on developers that could apply for permit extensions and new permits.
One category allowed to extend permits were developers that built low-cost housing.
Endang said this was difficult to accept, saying with so many levies on permits and high land prices, it would not be possible for developers around Greater Jakarta to build cheap housing, meaning housing for Rp 5 million.
"Getting rid of levies would be a start to curb land prices for developers and customers," he said.
Levies
Endang cited sources at West Java offices related to land issues who said levies for a land-use permit, issued by local offices of the National Land Agency, was Rp 500 per square meter.
"So if a developer needs one hectare he would need Rp 5 million just for the land-use permit," Endang said. Developers in Bekasi confirmed both the land-use levy and another Rp 500 per square meter to get the ijin prinsip permit, a prerequisite to gaining a land-use permit.
This permit entitles the developer to build a housing project, based on a review of spatial plans by the local offices of the spatial plans agency.
He said a developer with a project in Jakarta's outskirts in West Java was told to provide "a Baby Benz" to get permits for 50 hectares of land.
"This would make sense with levies of Rp 500 per square meter," Endang said. A "Classic Automatic" Benz is around Rp 244 million.
When the agency announced the October policy, officials were stripped of their power to gain such resources, Endang added.
He said speculators who lost access to land-use permits, which were crucial to gaining land to sell, would also probably be hurt.
In a similar tone to property observer Panangian Simanungkalit, Endang said the recent policy showed inconsistency. (anr)