Sutiyoso signs decree on land purchases for canal project
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.