'Stop commercial development in Senayan'
'Stop commercial development in Senayan'
Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Former city governor Ali Sadikin demanded on Tuesday that the
Bung Karno Sports Complex authorities stop construction of
commercial facilities on land originally allocated for sports
facilities.
"The city administration should oppose the continuing
development of commercial facilities in the area as we still need
the space to expand the development of sport facilities," Ali
told the media after meeting with Governor Sutiyoso on Tuesday.
He also urged Sutiyoso to investigate the permits for various
commercial facilities on the land, believed to have been issued
due to corruption, collusion and nepotism.
Ali referred to more than 10 buildings occupying 66.74
hectares (ha) of land located in Senayan, Central Jakarta, now
managed by the Bung Karno Sports Complex Management Board, and
under the control of the State Secretariat. The board controls in
total some 279.10 ha of land, which was originally allocated
purely for sports facilities.
Ali said if the permits had been issued by the state
secretary, the city administration should take the matter to
court to have them annulled, because the only institution with
the authority to issue such permits in the city was the city
administration.
Sutiyoso has repeatedly demanded that the central government
transfer the management of Senayan, as well as some other
properties like the city's toll roads and the now-defunct airport
in Kemayoran, to the city administration. As his demands were
ignored, Sutiyoso recently threatened to sue the central
government, saying that his demand was based on the autonomy law
and Law No. 34/1999 on Jakarta as a special province.
Even though Bung Karno Sports Complex was originally allocated
for sports facilities, current data shows that only 146.57 ha
(53.52 percent of the total) is used for sports facilities,
another 66.74 ha (23.91 percent) being allocated to the private
sector, with the remaining 65.79 ha for government buildings.
Commercial facilities that occupy the land include Hilton
International Hotel, Ratu Plaza, Menara Gelora Senayan, Hotel
Mulia, Plaza Senayan, Panin Bank, Taman Ria, Jakarta Convention
Center and Senayan Trade Center.
Several other commercial buildings due to be constructed in
the area include hotels, condominiums and another shopping
center.
The land was cleared in late 1958 when residents were told to
move to other areas as Indonesia would host the fourth Asian
Games there in 1962.
From the total 66.74 ha of land, the concession on which is
held by the private sector, the sports complex management could
earn only about Rp 16 billion from the cooperation agreement,
drawn up on a build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis.
The revenue is very low in comparison with the open market
value of the land, estimated at around Rp 10 million per square
meter.