Yogya waiting on bylaw before new mall can open

The Yogyakarta municipal administration is waiting for the local legislative council to deliberate and approve a bylaw on assets separation and equity participation so the administration can start running city-owned PT Jogjatama Vishesha.

The company was established last year, but will not be able to begin operating unless the draft bylaw on assets and equity is approved by the legislative council.

“The council’s assembly will meet on Monday to decide whether the draft bylaw will be included in the 2011 municipal legislation program,” the council’s Commission C chair overseeing the bylaw Zuhrif Hudaya told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.

He said that if the bylaw was included, the council would need at least three months to complete deliberations of the draft and approve it, making it a bylaw.

“That is on one condition, that it is given priority to be the first draft bylaw deliberated by the council,” Zuhrif said.

He said he was not sure what would happen, especially because the municipality is readying for a mayoral election this year.

“I myself prefer to have it given priority because the sooner the bylaw is approved the better,” said Zuhrif, who is also seeking candidacy in the mayoral race under the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS).

The bylaw will regulate, among other things, the assets and capital of PT Jogjatama Vishesha because as a city-owned enterprise the company will have to pay its employees and fund its own operations.

“Without the bylaw the enterprise is just like an empty entity without properties and working capital. It will not be able to do anything,” he said.

If priority is granted the bylaw, the council will be able to approve it by June 2011. That is a month before the city’s scheduled launch of XT-Square, the first project Jogjatama Vishesha is to manage.

Built on a former city bus terminal, hence the name XT or ex-terminal, the site is designed as a mixture of shopping, food and art centers.

The construction of the Rp 36 billion (US$4.1 million) project is almost complete. The finishing touches and interior fittings are currently being installed.

“We plan to launch it in July but we still have to wait for the city legislative council to approve the bylaw on assets separation without which the management [of XT-Square] cannot do anything,” Yogyakarta Mayor Herry Zudianto said recently.

Herry swore in the three members of PT Jogjatama Vishesha’s controlling council earlier this month. His administration is now offering job opportunities as members of the company’s board of directors.

Professionals interested in the positions can access the announcement through http://jogjakota.go.id or by calling (0274) 515866 ext. 340.

“I hope XT-Square will really move the economy and develop into a market with a recreational atmosphere,” Herry said.

“Recreation is the heart of a market and other centers of economic activity. Modern markets are identical with recreation,” he said.