T

he Jakarta administration is planning to report the West Jakarta District Court to the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) for a ruling that will lead to the city losing ownership of land currently in dispute.

“I’ve ordered my subordinates to immediately prepare the report,” Governor Fauzi Bowo told reporters at City Hall on Friday, adding that the report would be submitted soon.

The district court earlier ruled that more than Rp 187 billion (US$20.78 million), which was transferred by the Public Works Ministry through a consignment system, should be disbursed.

The funds were handed over to the court in an ongoing process to procure 146,629 square meters of land in Joglo and Meruya Selatan, both in West Jakarta, the ownership of which is being disputed by the administration and PT Copylas Indonesia.

The ministry, through its subsidiary Bina Marga directorate general, needs the plots of land for the construction of the Jakarta Outer Ring Road West 2 (JORR W2) connecting Ulujami and Kebon Jeruk.

Under the consignment system, a procurement committee hands over land deeds and payment to a local court, but retains ownership until the legal problems or payments have been settled.

“The disbursement is against the law, because the plots of land are still under legal dispute and there has been no final legal decision over it,” Fauzi said. “We suspect an unlawful motive behind the disbursement, and thus [decided to file] the report with the KPK.”

The administration claims that the plots of land were public property that the private company had yet to hand over to the city. Gubernatorial Decree No. 41/2001 on land use (SIPPT) mandates that developers of plots of land measuring more than 5,000 squares meter are obliged to hand over a portion of the land for public facilities.

PT Copylas fought the claim by filing two separate lawsuits at the West Jakarta District Court and the Jakarta State Administrative Court (PTUN). The private company defended its land rights at the district court and filed against the obligatory provision at the administrative court.

Both courts ruled in favor of the private firm.

Fauzi, however, regretted that the West Jakarta District Court had decided to disburse the money without notifying the administration.

“We are filing an appeal with the PTUN. The case is not over yet,” he said.

The legal dispute head at the City Legal Bureau, I Made Suarjaya, said that PT Copylas, which developed the Puri Botanical Garden housing complex in Joglo, had handed over only half of its obligatory provision in 1997.

“An audit by the Development Finance Comptroller (BPKP) in 2010 also stated that the disputed plots of land belonged to the city administration,” he said.

The administration had instructed the Jakarta branch of the National Land Agency (BPN) not to process land title permits related to Copylas.

Similar instructions were also issued to the Jakarta Environmental Management Agency (BPLHD), the City Spatial Agency, the Public Works Agency and the Construction Supervision and Regulation Agency (P2B).

The construction of the Ulujami–Kebon Jeruk JORR W2 section was initially scheduled to begin last year, but was delayed due to land acquisition problems.

The 7.67 kilometer-long road will be a part of the Jakarta Outer Ring Road, a network of toll roads that will connect Jakarta and its satellite cities.