Sutiyoso owns a villa in Puncak

Ahmad Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

City Governor Sutiyoso probably feels a bit reluctant to deplore any further the development of villas in mountainous Puncak resort, Bogor, which were believed to have contributed to the recent floods in the city, after he was "caught red handed" owning a villa himself.

As his face turned a shade of red, Sutiyoso admitted on Tuesday that he bought the villa cheaply when he was the Bogor Military Resort Commander in 1994.

Without mentioning the price of the villa or its land, he said that it was located on state land.

However, he claimed that he never stayed at the villa as he was "allergic" to cold weather.

"I can't stand cold weather. It's okay if they (Bogor regency) want to demolish the villa, but other villas should also be demolished," the governor told reporters at City Hall.

Tugu village chief Jajat Sudrajat announced on Monday that Sutiyoso was one of several former top military officials who owned villas in the area.

Jajat revealed that the villa and 11 others which belonged to former military officials, stood on state land and had no building permits.

Sutiyoso's villa, measuring 200 square meters, stands on a one-hectare plot of land in Tugu village, Cisarua district.

A reliable source said that former Indonesian Military (TNI) Chief Gen. (ret) Wiranto owned a villa next to the Governor's.

Asked whether Wiranto's villa was next to his, Sutiyoso replied, "I don't know."

Several high-ranking city officials, including West Jakarta Mayor Sarimun Hadisaputra, reportedly own villas in Puncak but use the names of relatives as the owners.

"It's slander. I don't have property there," Sarimun once said.

Sutiyoso also claimed on Tuesday that his villa was not a luxurious one, and that it did not disturb the land.

"It's a traditional style house built on stilts which does not affect water catchment. It would only take 10 minutes to demolish the house," he said.

The governor, who had been criticized for his incompetence in controlling the floods, had argued that the development of villas in Puncak, which were designated as water catchment areas for low-land Jakarta, contributed to the floods.

He blamed the local administration in Bogor regency, for giving development permits for the villas to individuals and private companies.

Jajat's announcement, which apparently stung Sutiyoso, was believed to be engineered by Bogor regency officials, one of the benefits of regional autonomy which inspires lower officials to challenge higher officials.

Lower officials in regencies were often blamed for the development of the villas although most were approved by top officials in Jakarta.