Yogie urges action against housing speculators

Yogie urges action against housing speculators

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Home Affairs Moch. Yogie S.M.
yesterday denounced the speculators who have been buying up
houses, which, he said, drives up prices and deprives those in
need of affordable housing.

During a meeting with governors and regency chiefs to discuss
the government's housing policy, Yogie urged local administrators
to take action against speculators.

He noted that the sales of new houses have been booming in the
major cities of Indonesia.

However, many of the houses have not been occupied since they
were purchased for speculative purposes, he said, noting that the
trend holds true for both luxury and low-cost houses.

Many people are buying houses simply to rake in as much profit
as possible, he said.

"The situation must not be tolerated," he said.

The two-day meeting was scheduled to be closed yesterday by
Vice-President Try Sutrisno.

President Soeharto, during a ceremony to launch 240,000 low-
cost houses on Thursday, urged urban administrators to assist in
the development of low cost houses and apartments.

To overcome the problem of soaring land prices, he proposed
that local governments build apartments and new housing
facilities for the poor living in slum areas.

Yogie and State Minister for National Development Planning
Ginandjar Kartasasmita took turns yesterday hammering home the
message during the meeting with governors and regency chiefs.

The two ministers underlined the need for local governments to
give priority to details of site plans, which clearly mark land
areas designated for low cost housing.

Most current spatial planning maps identify housing areas,
without indicating the areas for industrial sites.

"The designation of land for low cost houses in spatial plans
must be followed by the supervision of the permits issued by
local administrations," Ginandjar said.

He added that the government plans to issue a regulation to
enforce the 1992 Law No. 24 on Spatial Planning.

Yogie warned that failure to meet the government's target of
building 500,000 units of low cost houses during the current
Sixth Five Year Plan would discredit the government.

Such failure, he said, could lead to endless political
polemics.

The chairman of the Indonesian Real Estate Association,
Enggartiasto Lukita, welcomed the government's admission to
designate land low cost houses.

With transparent spatial plans and strict supervision,
"speculators will not be interested in land marked for the poor,"
Enggartiasto told reporters yesterday.

He proposed that the authorities also set standard prices for
such land.

The lack of standardized land prices has allowed speculators
to take advantage of the situation as soon as the developers
forward their requests for building permits, he said.

He revealed that the association's 2,000-plus members "are
forced to employ brokers for 90 percent of all land
appropriations", which, he said, causes more losses for both
developers and land owners.

"If we do not work with brokers, they (speculators) would buy
up all the land and claim to act on behalf of residents when they
demand compensation."

This then leads to land disputes and delays in construction
and further financial losses, Enggartiasto said.

Speculation can also be avoided by a government-set price for
land based on after-tax prices, he said.

Minister of Public Works Radinal Moochtar also addressed the
meeting.

He said the involvement of the private sector will be vital to
building infrastructure and enabling the government to
concentrate on services to the low income sector. (anr)