Time needed to stop use of homes for business purposes

Damar Harsanto, Jakarta

An official said on Monday that the Jakarta administration would need more time to regularize the use of houses as business places, arguing that other government institutions had complicated the process.

"This is a very big and complicated job as there have been many recommendations issued by many city agencies and central government institutions.

We will finish the registration within a month, but we may fail to regulate them all," Assistant to the City Secretary for Development Affairs IGKG Suena told The Jakarta Post at City Hall on Monday.

Suena asserted that the administration would show no mercy to owners of converted houses who failed to show letters of recommendation from the governmental institutions or city agencies that were concerned with their businesses.

"We will immediately close them down. There will be no bargaining nor grace period. But we have yet to decide what should be done if the householders have current recommendations or expired ones."

According to Suena, the administration would prioritize three residential areas: Pondok Indah and Kebayoran Baru, both in South Jakarta, and Menteng in Central Jakarta.

"Our treatment of converted homes in these three areas would become the yardstick for regularizing converted homes in other residential areas in the city," he said.

Governor Sutiyoso has assigned Suena to coordinate the re- registration of the converted buildings so as to check whether the owners of the buildings have recommendations from a governmental institution.

Sutiyoso admitted that the overlapping that existed in city regulations had led to the current chaotic situation.

Late last month, Sutiyoso gave a one-month deadline for officials in the five municipality to regularize the converted homes.

Any conversions in the use of a building that is carried out without the knowledge of the city's Construction Supervision and Regulation Agency (PPB), are against Jakarta Bylaw No. 7/1991.

Article 14 of the Bylaw stipulates that buildings that do not comply with the use specified in their permits have to be demolished or restored to their former condition in accordance with the regulations.

Unfortunately, the bylaw has been rarely enforced since its passage in 1991 as other city's agencies could also issue permits, even if these went against existing building use permits.

Critics have said that the administration was discriminatory in its policy of taking tough action against casual traders, while letting capital-rich enterprises, which have also violated city public order regulations, operate freely.