Surjadi denies slum fires were deliberate acts

JAKARTA (JP): Governor Surjadi Soedirdja denied yesterday an accusation that a series of recent fires in city slum areas were deliberately set.

He said the accusation was unfounded as it was only based on rumor. "I don't think there is any provincial government which intentionally wants to burden its people," he said.

Surjadi made the remark in response to a question raised by a senior journalist at a meeting between the governor and Jakarta Military Commander Maj. Gen. Sutiyoso, and representatives of city electronic and print media at the Millennium Hotel.

Many fire victims, who were ordered by the city administration not to rebuild homes at fire sites soon after fires scorched certain areas, usually jumped to conclusion that the municipality was behind the fire incidents.

The real situation, Surjadi said, was that city officials would ask what the municipality could do to help fire victims after a fire took place.

"If fires happen to raze slums on state land, officials will prohibit them from rebuilding homes at the same sites. This decision is made for the sake of their own future, as the city administration would build low-cost apartments to accommodate them," he said.

The governor cited as example that when a fire took place in Bendungan Hilir, Central Jakarta, in September, 1994, a 10-story, low-cost apartment was immediately built there.

The decision was made after it was learned that the September fire was the third at the same site.

"Local residents were really angry when they were told not to rebuild their homes. City officials, who took a census of residents living there, were even threatened by a resident with a dagger," he said.

The project nearly failed as several high-ranking officials did not agree with the construction project, because the groundbreaking ceremony for the project took place just ahead of an Asia-Pacific Economic Conference (APEC) forum in the city, where many heads of state gathered, he said.

"However, as soon as President Soeharto gave the green light, the project continued," he said.

At the project's inauguration, the person who threatened officials with a dagger was asked to give a speech.

When asked of his reaction, he was moved and cried. "He told us that the condition of adjacent slums was still dirty. When will the municipality build another apartment there?" the resident asked, as quoted by the governor.

Touching on another complaint, related to the collection of illegal levies by city officials for the processing of permits, the governor acknowledged it.

"Actually we've taken some measures, including raising salaries of the civil servants in a bid to raise their welfare," he said.

Surjadi said that he was concerned about the condition, but he said there were many demands for basic needs in Jakarta, which were increasing.

He urged the public to be patient. He also asked people not to mix up illegal levies with property taxes, which vary depending on location. The more strategic the location of a property is, the higher the tax will be, he said. (hhr)