Traders stall Ciputat overpass work
Multa Fidrus, The Jakarta Post, Tangerang
The construction of the much-needed Ciputat flyover has hit a snag as dozens of traders who received compensation funds refused on Tuesday to vacate their buildings on Jl. Dewi Sartika and Jl. Juanda.
Ciputat district administration head Muhamad, who leads the team to clear the land, said that the Tangerang administration had planned to sink pylons into the ground for the flyover by Jan. 1.
"The work cannot start yet as 100 or so stores affected by the project still stand, and their owners continue to do business as usual, although they have received compensation from the administration," he said on Tuesday.
According to him, store owners had received compensation funds in November and agreed to demolish their stores by Dec. 31, at the latest.
By Tuesday, however, only two of over 100 buildings in the area had been demolished. The two buildings were the Elim Church and a store building belonging to Zarkasih Noer on Jl. Dewi Sartika.
Sutijo, a furniture trader who rents one of the affected buildings on Jl. Dewi Sartika, said his landlord had not yet told him to vacate the building.
"I know Regent Ismet Iskandar has issued a written instruction to vacate the building by Dec. 31, but I need at least one month to remove all merchandise and find another store to rent," he told The Jakarta Post.
He said he had encountered difficulties in finding an empty store to rent in the vicinity of Ciputat market and feared losing customers if he moved to another location.
Awing, who runs an electronics store on Jl. Juanda, said he was not ready to move to another place.
"The Rp 1.4 million compensation for each square meter I received from the administration is far from enough to buy a store near Ciputat market as land and building prices have sky- rocketed here," said the father of four who has been selling electronic goods for more than 10 years across from Ciputat market.
Separately, Regent Ismet said that the construction of the 800-meter-long flyover -- from Ramayana department store on Jl. Dewi Sartika to the fuel station on Jl. Juanda -- was the only way to ease chronic traffic congestion around the crowded market.
He said that the administration had spent Rp 125 billion from the 2004 budget for land clearance, while the physical work would be financed by the central government in cooperation with a Japanese consortium.
"The construction of the Ciputat flyover is only part of our developmental projects in 2004," he told the Post.