Sutiyoso signs decree on land purchases for canal project

Damar Harsanto, Jakarta

Governor Sutiyoso has signed a decree providing the guidelines for the acquisition of land for the development of the East Flood Canal, which include a recommendation that the president order the seizure of land of those owners who impede the project.

The assistant to the city secretary for development affairs, IGKG Suena, said on Friday the decree gave officials six months to complete negotiations with land owners over compensation.

"If we fail to agree on the amount of compensation for the acquired land within this six-month period, we can ask the central government to consider revoking the land ownership right of the residents," Suena said.

The decree was issued in a bid to accelerate the construction of the East Flood Canal, the slow pace of which has been blamed on residents whose homes occupy the land for the project.

These land owners are reportedly demanding compensation far above the price the city administration is willing to pay.

For example, residents of Duren Sawit, East Jakarta, reportedly have demanded Rp 2 million (US$235) per square meter of land, double the current value of land in the area.

The administration has cleared only 50.8 hectares of land, or 16 percent of the 316 hectares required for the Rp 4.124 trillion project.

Sutiyoso said the administration had allocated Rp 150 billion from the 2004 city budget for the acquisition of 25 hectares of land for the project.

Suena said the administration would offer land owners a price determined by land value appraisal teams formed by each municipality involved in the project.

"If the land owners refuse this, then the provincial appraisal team will come back with a new price ... if negotiations at this stage hit a snag, we will ask the Jakarta Prosecutor's Office to recommend whether we can pass the case on to the central government. The central government has the power to seize the land," he said.

As the legal basis for the city administration's policy, Suena cited Law No. 20/1961 on the revocation of land ownership rights.

The law gives the president the right to seize land in emergency situations in the interests of the public, but only after receiving a recommendation from the National Land Agency and the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights.

The law was strengthened by Presidential Instruction No. 9/1973 on the implementation of the revocation of land ownership rights, which states that land seizures must be carried out only "for public needs and ... based on fair considerations".

Sutiyoso said on Friday that the planned canal, which has been three decades in the planning, was necessary to protect some 25 percent of Jakarta's territory from the annual flooding.

The city administration has projected that with the completion of the 23.5-kilometer-long canal, which will stretch from Cipinang in East Jakarta to Marunda in North Jakarta, the areas covering Kebon Nanas, Cipinang, Pulo Mas, Pondok Kelapa and Pulo Gadung in East Jakarta, and Kelapa Gading, Sukapura and Rorotan in North Jakarta, will be protected from flooding.

Sutiyoso has promised that the canal will be completed by 2007, the final year of his term.