Theresia Sufa, The Jakarta Post, Bogor
Bogor regency administration demolished 22 illegally built villas and entertainment spots Monday in Tamansari district, Bogor regency.
All of the demolished structures were either built without permits or were allegedly houses of prostitution, the regency's spatial planning agency reported.
One of the villas, which was illegally built on a 5,000-square-meter plot of state land, was reportedly owned by a member of the House of Representatives.
""We issued three warnings, but, since no one responded accordingly, their villas were torn down,"" said Budi, one of the police officers assisting with the process.
According to the Bogor Public Works Agency, around 4,000 villas in the regency were built without permits.
""We tried warning the owners to voluntarily pull their buildings done, but never received any response,"" the agency's building planning division head, Lita, said.
Most of the developers were not granted building permits because they wanted to build on state land.
Non-governmental organizations have blamed the number of villas in the Puncak mountain resort area for environmental damage.
The intensity of development around Bogor, Puncak and Cianjur -- part of West Java -- is consistently blamed for Jakarta's annual floods.
During a gathering last year, West Java Governor Danny Setiawan pointed out that it was the Jakarta elite who had caused the catastrophe.
""They bought the land and built villas or paid local farmers to cultivate fruit and vegetables for the consumption of Jakarta residents, reducing water catchments. The high influx of visitors, uncontrolled development and poor law enforcement are all culprits with regard to environmental damage,"" he said.
Aside from villas, pool halls that sex workers allegedly operated out of were also closed down.
The later was met with resistance from one of the owners, Daud Lubis, who denied the allegation and insisted everything was in order when the building went up.
