T

he Jakarta administration has said it does not expect to reach its target of converting 30 percent of the city into open green spaces by 2017, citing difficulty acquiring the land.

The head of the Maritime Affairs and Agriculture Agency, Darjamuni, said here on Tuesday that his side would also be unable to provide the six hectares (ha) of land for the city'€™s forests that were planned for this year.

'€œWe will likely unable to reach our target of providing 40 ha for forest areas by the end of 2017, as we have only 11.9 ha as of now,'€ he said.

The city administration has set a target of creating 240 ha of open green space; 40 ha in city forests and 200 ha in parks, green zones and other open green spaces. According to Law No 26/2007 on spatial planning, each city is obliged to designate at least 30 percent of its land to open green space.

Darjamuni said his agency received a large chunk of funds each year from the city budget to acquire the lands. '€œWe are allocated around Rp 800 billion (US$65.6 million) to acquire land [to be converted into] forests and other green open spaces,'€ he said.

He said, however, that the funds could not be spent optimally because of many obstacles, including land scarcity and disputes.

'€œMany plots of land for sale have double certificates,'€ he said, adding that the city could not risk buying disputed land.

The agency was only able to spend Rp 290 billion of the Rp 800 billion in 2013, returning the balance to the Jakarta Financial Management Board (BPKD).

Darjamuni said another obstacle was the increase in taxable values of property (NJOP) this year. '€œThe NJOP in particular areas are so expensive that we cannot buy the land,'€ he said.

Parks and Cemetery Agency head Nandar Sunandar concurred, saying that his agency also faced difficulties acquiring land in Central and South Jakarta.

'€œIn many cases, plots of land have authentic certificates, but they are occupied by squatters who will certainly demand compensation if they are evicted,'€ he said.

Nandar said the city had allocated some Rp 1.5 trillion to his agency for land acquisition, but that the huge fund could not be spent optimally.

According to recent data released by the agency, open green space in the form of parks, cemeteries and green areas stood at some 2,373 ha, or between 4.5 percent and 5 percent of Jakarta'€™s overall territory.

'€œWe have planned to develop parks and green zones in 64 locations this year, but as of September, we have only done so at three,'€ he said, adding that he estimated that the agency had only acquired 10 ha of land.

Previously, Jakarta Deputy Governor Basuki '€œAhok'€ Tjahaja Purnama encouraged residents to sell their lands for the higher prices offered by the city administration.

'€œThose who have land plots in the middle of densely populated areas can contact the city administration if they want to sell them,'€ he said.

Ahok added that besides increasing the number of open green spaces, the parks could be used for recreational activities like was done at the Pluit reservoir in North Jakarta.