Tanah Abang Site of Maruarar and Hercules Debate to Be Transformed Into This

A plot of land near Tanah Abang Station in Central Jakarta was once the subject of a debate between the Minister of Housing and Settlement Areas (PKP), Maruarar Sirait (Ara), and the Chairman of the United Indonesian People’s Movement (GRIB), Rosario de Marshal (Hercules). The location is not far from the flyover bridge that crosses the tracks near Tanah Abang Station, specifically behind Tanah Abang Market Block G.

Ara, as she is known, directly inspected the land intended for the construction of rental apartments (rusun) for residents living along the tracks near Tanah Abang Station in Central Jakarta on Sunday (5 April 2026). The land actually belongs to PT Kereta Api Indonesia (Persero) or KAI.

In addition to Ara, other officials who joined the inspection included the Head of the State-Owned Enterprises Regulatory Agency (BP BUMN), Dony Oskaria, KAI President Director Bobby Rasyidin, and representatives from the Tzu Chi Buddhist Foundation and PT Astra International Tbk. The land will be developed into 500 rental apartment units, targeted for completion on 15 June 2026.

“Earlier, on the instructions of Mr Dony (Head of BP BUMN), very quickly, the KAI President Director will also be here in Tanah Abang, right Mr President Director? Permission, there are 500 units completed by 15 June 2026. This is correct, right Mr President Director?” said Ara in a written statement, quoted on Friday (10 April 2026).

However, Ara has not yet detailed the ownership status of the hundreds of rental apartments to be built, including whether they will be for rent or freehold. She only assured that the construction of these rental apartments is to accommodate people who still do not have decent housing.

“Indeed, Jakarta very much needs housing for the people very quickly because the backlog is very large, so we will also move very quickly,” she explained.

Meanwhile, Ara’s inspection of the land serves as a follow-up to previous cross-sector coordination meetings, as well as to ensure the readiness of the land to be utilised for housing construction. The land spans about 3 hectares and is currently in a clear and clean status, but has been illegally occupied by the public again. She emphasised that building housing on state land requires strong synergy between the government, SOEs, and the private sector to proceed more quickly and on target.

“We want to provide decent housing for the people through collaboration. The government prepares policies and coordination, SOEs provide the land, and the private sector helps accelerate construction. With collaboration like this, development can be faster and have a broad impact,” Ara stated.

Ara added that the government will ensure all aspects of legality and land law certainty can be properly resolved to speed up the construction process. During the inspection, GRIB Chairman Jaya Rosario de Marshal, alias Hercules, arrived and debated with Ara.

“My goal is to build for the people’s houses here. Not for developers and so on,” Ara clarified when meeting Hercules and several representatives from mass organisations.

In response to Ara’s request, Hercules stated that the land managed by his organisation is indeed state land, but its status is HPL (Land Management Rights).

Hercules emphasised that if the state indeed wants the Tanah Abang land, he and his organisation have no objection if the land is released for housing construction.

“HPL is for managing the land but not for owning it. If this is the state’s, today I hand it over,” said Hercules.

For information, the land’s location is near Jalan Jati Bunder and Jalan Jembatan Tinggi, or behind Tanah Abang Market Block G. This land is actually known as “Lahan Bongkaran”.

Currently, the land is used as a parking area for logistic vehicles for goods to be sold at Tanah Abang Market, including clothing.