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Jokowi, House to get tough on Taman Ria developer
Controversial conversion: An aerial view of Taman Ria Senayan, Central Jakarta
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Controversial conversion: An aerial view of Taman Ria Senayan, Central Jakarta. The Jakarta administration is planning to convert the property, which was originally earmarked to become a sports complex, into a shopping mall, prompting protests from activists. (JP/Wendra Ajistyatama) (JP/Wendra Ajistyatama)
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span class="inline inline-none">Controversial conversion: An aerial view of Taman Ria Senayan, Central Jakarta. The Jakarta administration is planning to convert the property, which was originally earmarked to become a sports complex, into a shopping mall, prompting protests from activists. (JP/Wendra Ajistyatama)
Governor Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo has promised that he would limit the size of any development at the Taman Ria site in Senayan, South Jakarta, after a developer was given the go ahead by the Supreme Court to build on the green space.
'As the Supreme Court has ruled in favor of the holder of the land's management rights, we should abide by the law. But I will do my best to limit the extent of the development,' Jokowi said on Friday at City Hall.
The House of Representatives speaker, Marzuki Alie, said that the House would not sign off on the conversion of the Taman Ria site ' which is zoned as a green space ' into a commercial area.
'Without the House's approval, the developer can't get an environmental impact analysis [AMDAL] and thus, the city administration can't issue a building permit,' he said as quoted by tribunnews.com. He also encouraged the government to take over the land.
'We are willing to compensate the developer if it will cancel the permit,' he said.
In 2010, developer PT Ariobimo Laguna Perkasa, the company that holds the land management rights to the site, planned to develop 10 percent of the site by turning it into a four-story building including a movie theater and two public and social facilities.
Ariobimo plans to work with mall operator Lippo Group to build food centers and a family recreation park on the site.
The development plan had been challenged by the House and former Jakarta governor Fauzi Bowo, who agreed to transform the site into an open green space.
Fauzi later ordered the Jakarta Construction Supervision and Regulatory Agency (P2B) to halt the construction and seal the location, although previously the agency had issued a preliminary permit to lay the mall's foundations and measure the structural strength of the land.
Ariobimo, which filed a lawsuit against the stoppage and the sealing, won the case in the Jakarta Administrative Court in 2011. A year later, the Supreme Court affirmed the Administrative Court's decision.
Ariobimo is owned by Sharif Cicip Sutardjo, a senior Golkar Party politician who is also the minister of maritime affairs and fisheries. He refused to comment on the Taman Ria development plan.
'I haven't handled that business for a long time. Ask Kurnia [about Taman Ria],' he said in a text message to The Jakarta Post, referring to Kurnia Ahmadi, the company's managing director.
Kurnia did not respond to the Post's queries.
Meanwhile, the city's Spatial Planning Agency and P2B gave the green light to the revived development plan for Taman Ria following the Supreme Court ruling.
According to the zoning map in the Detailed Spatial Plan (RDTR) bylaw ' which is currently awaiting the governor's signature ' Taman Ria can be zoned for trade, services and commercial office space.
'The maximum amount of land allowed for property development at Taman Ria is no longer 20 percent, but 30 percent of the site, as regulated by the government. The company can only build up to four floors high,' team leader in charge of the formulation of RDTR Darwin Syam Siregar told the Post recently.
He referred to Government Regulation No. 36/2005 that explains Law No. 28/2002 on building construction. He said according to the regulation, the maximum building coverage (KDB) was 30 percent, up from 20 percent.
Head of P2B I Putu Ngurah Indiana said Ariobimo had fulfilled all the requirements, so the company could continue with the development plan as long as it didn't make additional changes to the building permit.
The company would have to apply for a new permit if it made a change.
'According to the permit, the company can only build on 10 percent of the land,' he said.
'The 30 percent KDB is the maximum area on which they are allowed to build. It does not necessarily mean that they can get the maximum.'
He said according to the permit, the company would build a recreation and shopping building along with the facilities on 105,208 square meters, which was 9.9 percent of Taman Ria.
Today, the Taman Ria site is covered with high grass and surrounded by a high construction wall with 'Do Not Enter' signs affixed near a security post.
The 11-hectare site is part of the 320-hectare Senayan area, which was acquired from residents to make way for the Asian Games IV in 1962. The government stopped subsidizing the area in 1971 following the political and economic turmoil after the Sukarno regime fell in the late 1960s.
The government then partitioned the area into several parcels that were leased to third parties, who generated revenue from rent. The third party companies were affiliated with Golkar, the ruling party during the New Order period, and had close ties to the family of former president Soeharto.
The party's control over the area has subsided along with its declining domination of national politics.
