"Military leaders need to find a solution to housing problems. We will then assist them in budget allocation," lawmaker Tubagus Hasanudin of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) said Saturday.

He said there were at least two challenges that needed immediate attention: a win-win solution for long-time residents who refused to leave several military housing complexes, and the provision of housing for active military personnel.

"We have proposed to military leaders to consider compensation for those who refused to leave the housing complexes," he said.

Tubagus said the House of Representatives' Commission I overseeing defense recorded that the military faced resistance from the inhabitants of 6,300 houses in several military complexes out of 39,509 houses inhabited by either ex- or non-military personnel.

Hasanudin said that the House had been discussing the solution to the second issue, the provision of housing for active military personnel, with the Public Housing Ministry and a number of housing developers to provide low-cost apartments to the military.

The temporary solution is placing military personnel in partly vacant, neglected low-cost apartments such as those in Marunda, North Jakarta, Bogor and Surabaya. He said the apartments, built by local administrations, the ministry and housing developers, were formerly offered to the public but were not livable due to lack of water supply and road access.

Enggartiasto Lukita, another lawmaker, said there had been talks with management from state companies to immediately supply water and electricity to the budget apartments once the House and the Public Housing Ministry reached an agreement.

"Commitment has begun so let's just wait and see," he said.

Head of the House's working committee on military housing procurement, Kemal Aziz Stamboel, said that the House had lent its support to the military to provide a long-term solution.

"We mean business because we realize that housing problem is as important as allocating more budget for the military weaponry system," he said.

Defense Ministry spokesman Brig. Gen. I Wayan Midhio said the military had a budget capacity to build around 3,000 houses for its personnel every year. Midhio said the ministry welcomed the plan to build low-cost apartments for the military as it would accelerate the housing provision.

From the total figure of 357,874 houses needed for military personnel, the TNI had recorded existing assets of 198,170 units, or 55 percent of the total need. From the 198,170 existing houses, 158,661 are inhabited by either active military personnel or civil servants in the military environment while 39,509 are still inhabited by either ex- or non-military personnel identified as the third party.

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