Traders stall Ciputat overpass work

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.