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.