District courts to deploy field officers for land acquisition

Plans by the city administration to speed up the acquisition of land for the East Flood Canal (BKT) project have won support from the East and North Jakarta district courts, with both sending officers into the field to resolve several disputes over property ownership.

Bailiffs from the two courts will go door-to-door visiting residents involved in these disputes, Deputy Governor Prijanto said Thursday.

"If there were two people fighting for land involved in the BKT project, an assigned bailiff will visit them and ask whether reconciliation is possible, or if other means need to be explored," said Prijanto.

"The bailiff will later report any progress to the court and in turn the information will be passed onto the administration."

The process of land acquisition for the Rp 1.25 trillion canal project has faced numerous problems so far, largely due to unclear or multiple claims for land titles. Some residents do not even posses certification of ownership.

In an effort to quickly resolve a number of these issues, the administration turned to the East and North Jakarta courts for assistance.

This year, the administration allocated a total of Rp 750 billion (US$69 million) toward land acquisition in both East and North Jakarta. It is hoped the canal will reduce floods in a 270-square-kilometer area in the two municipalities.

Around 180 hectares of land is needed to accommodate the canal in East Jakarta, while another 80 hectares is required for the flood corridors, according to the city public works agency.

In North Jakarta, nearly 80 hectares of land is necessary for the canal and 70 hectares for the assisting corridors.

Fauzi Bowo said in a recent interview that the purchase of land for the project was almost complete and the process had run smoothly. One such dispute, involving compensation for a PT Kawasan Berikat Nusantara (KBN) property in North Jakarta, was recently resolved.