Workers worry about new housing policy

Workers worry about new housing policy

Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Construction workers have expressed wariness after the
government announced its intention to review the issuance of
permits for the building of new housing complex projects in
Greater Jakarta in an effort to prevent future flooding.

The workers complained that their livelihoods could be
jeopardized if the plan were implemented.

"The government cannot do that! Where else could we get a job
during the hard times like the present? How will we feed our
families at home?" Suwarno, 32, said bitterly.

Suwarno, a former becak (pedicab) driver, became a
construction worker after his becak was seized by city officers
during a raid three years ago. As a worker, the father of two
could earn up to Rp 300,000 a week and send his eldest child to
elementary school.

"How can I pay my child's school fees? I don't want her to
drop out of school like I did," said Suwarno, who dropped out of
junior high school.

However, Suwarno's colleague, Aji, was cool-headed as he
believed that the government was only threatening developers.

"The government would not do that. It must consider that if
the plan were carried out, hundreds of thousands of people like
us would become unemployed," said the high school graduate.

But deep down, Aji, whose wife is pregnant, was worried. "It's
not easy to get a job nowadays. Besides, I couldn't go back to
my hometown as I'd have nothing to do there," he said.

Minister of Resettlement and Regional Infrastructure Soenarno
announced last week the suspension of housing complex projects in
Greater Jakarta for six months. The government would review the
projects' feasibility, including an environmental impact
assessment and the city master plan. Should there be violations,
it would annul the permits.

Governor Sutiyoso, however, rejected the idea. The Indonesian
Real Estate Developers Association (REI) also objected, warning
that about 1.3 million people would be jobless should it be
implemented.

However, the Indonesia Property Study Center gave another
figure, saying that the suspension would leave hundreds of
thousands of people unemployed.

Soenarno revised his earlier statement on Monday, explaining
that the government would not suspend housing complex projects
now but would temporarily freeze the issuance of new projects.

The government had blamed developers for the reduction in
green areas. In fact, developers could not have carried out the
projects without the issuance of permits from the administration.
This was made possible because in 1995 the city administration
revised the 1985-2005 master plan, deleting many green areas.
Critics have called for the revision of the current 1995-2010
masterplan as it is inimical to sustainable development, but so
far there has been no serious response from the administration.