Want Rp 10m? Stand near tree

Want Rp 10m? Stand near tree

Ahmad Junaidi, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

If one of the city's trees or its branches falls and results
in a person's death, family members are entitled to receive up to
Rp 10 million (US$1,100) in compensation from the city
administration.

But if a person is injured or their car or any of their
possessions is damaged from falling branches or trees, claimants
will receive less than Rp 10 million from the city-owned
insurance firm Askrida.

"The amount of the claim will be determined by a team from the
insurance firm. In the case of death, the family of the victim
will receive the maximum compensation of Rp 10 million," City
Park Agency head Mauritz Napitupulu said on Thursday at City
Hall.

Mauritz said the insurance program had been in effect since
January of this year and was financed by the city budget.

He said that the administration paid insurance premiums of Rp
150 million a year to the firm for the city's 4.5 million trees.

"Since earlier this month, we are looking into the cases of
two people who were injured because of falling branches," he
said, without naming the victims or the locations of the
accidents.

Mauritz said that if anyone were to cut down a city tree, they
would have to compensate its loss with ten trees.

"Cutting down a city tree requires the permission of the City
Park Agency and one tree is to be replaced with 10 others," he
said.

Landslides and heavy rain accompanied with strong winds are
usually to blame for falling trees and branches, he said.

The branches of trees lining city streets can fall and hit
passersby or vehicles during rain storms or strong winds, he
said. Mauritz said the agency would prune old trees in time for
the rainy season.

Mauritz said the agency had purchased five trucks, which were
equipped with eight-meter hydraulic ladder, and five dump trucks,
worth Rp 2.7 billion last year.

A non-governmental organization (NGO) earlier questioned the
purchase, which was conducted without an open tender.

The NGO, headed by businessman Daniel Hutapea, accused the
agency of having marked up the trucks' prices and causing losses
to the administration of Rp 1 billion.

Mauritz said that the agency purchased the trucks through the
direct appointment of a company, but it had not broken any
regulations. A presidential decree states that purchasing
vehicles of the same make could be done through the direct
appointment of a company and not through a tender.

He denied that the agency marked up the trucks' prices.