Home wrecker: Public order officers tear down an illegal villa in Kopo village, Cisarua, Bogor, on Tuesday. The agency said it would dismantle 70 illegally built homes in the area. JP/Theresia Sufa
Bogor regency public order officers have begun demolishing 72 illegally built villas and buildings in Cisarua and Megamendung districts Tuesday. The operation is scheduled to end in three days, an official said.
The head of the public order agency, Yasin Zaenudin, said there were a total of 94 buildings built on land belonging to state-owned tea plantation company PTPN VIII. The first 72 would be removed in three days while the removal of the remaining 22, which are Islamic boarding schools and places of worship, would be postponed. He did not mention when these 22 buildings would be demolished.
“The demolition of the 22 buildings has been postponed to give the owners a chance to coordinate the demolition with PTPN VIII management,” Yasin said.
There are widespread rumors that some of the demolished villas belonged to top government officials. Yasin, however, could not confirm this.
“What I can say is that we are demolishing villas and buildings which do not have building permits,” he said.
He said the demolition was necessary for conservation efforts, as the districts were important water catchment areas for downstream cities in West Java and Jakarta.
“Another reason for the demolition is that state funds are being affected since the buildings are all on state-owned land,” Yasin said.
Some owners, however, said they paid to build on the land. Nurani, a resident of Cempaka Putih, Central Jakarta, said she built her villa in Kopo village, Cisarua, on a plot of land she paid for in 2005.
“I bought a 1,000-square-meter plot of land in 2005 from a police officer called Yusuf, at Rp 50,000 [US$5] per square meter,” Nurani said.
She added she had already filed a claim and that the Bandung State Administrative Court had delivered a verdict in her favor in November 2009.
Nurani, who said she was a teacher in North Jakarta, said she believed the land she bought belonged to local residents. However, in 2004, Bogor’s national land agency produced a deed confirming PTPN VIII ownership of the land, Nurani said.
The case is now filed at the Supreme Court, she said.
There are still 22 buildings — Islamic schools and mosques — not yet scheduled to be demolished.
