T

he Jakarta Administration has revealed that around 18 percent of 107 private apartment buildings across Jakarta were suffering problems.

Housing and Government Buildings Agency head Ika Lestari Aji said that the many problems involved management issues, tenants'€™ associations and permits.

'€œThere are various problems in private apartments. For example, [the establishment and control over the] P3SRS [tenants'€™ association] is one of the most common problems in apartments. There are often disagreements between apartment management and tenants, or between tenants themselves,'€ Ika told reporters in City Hall on Tuesday.

Such a problem could be found in Kalibata City, where residents complained that its management, PT Prima Buana Internusa, had failed to produce convincing financial reports on the income and expenditure of maintenance costs.

Tenants also complained that the management had ignored their attempts to take part in the making of the tenants'€™ association, which was quickly denied by the company'€™s manager, who claimed they had supported the formation of a committee that would prepare an election for the association.

Similar problems regarding tenants associations could also be found in North Jakarta'€™s Gading Nias Residences and South Jakarta'€™s The Lavande Residences.

Law No. 20/2011 on apartments stipulates that a tenants association must be managed by owners and tenants and its formation was compulsory.

Ika said that the establishment of a tenants'€™ association was important to manage the apartment and tenants should be involved in the decision-making process.

'€œThe problems in private apartments vary and are very complex. It'€™s difficult for us to monitor private apartments and we cannot easily be involved,'€ she said.

Separately, Governor Basuki '€œAhok'€ Tjahaja Purnama said that the city administration would call all managements and developers that oversaw troubled apartments in order to seek clarification. The city, he said, would also ask them to find solutions to their issues.

Further, Ahok said he would issue a new gubernatorial regulation in which district and subdistrict heads would be given the power to fire community unit (RW) and neighborhood unit (RT) heads if they failed to maintain security and order in their areas. The regulation will also be applied to private apartments.

He acknowledged that many private apartments had problems, specifically regarding tenants'€™ associations. He said that the tenants'€™ associations were often managed by developers instead of the tenants themselves.

'€œAlmost all apartments have problems with tenants associations. Basically, we support tenants rather than apartment managements to manage the tenants'€™ association,'€ Ahok said.

He said when the management dominated the tenants'€™ association, any decisions made by the management would be approved by the association and would directly affect the tenants. However, in another conflicting statement, he also expressed his doubt over the capability of apartment residents to manage the tenants'€™ association.

'€œBut there isn'€™t much we can do. Besides, will the tenants'€™ association become better if it is managed by the residents? Not necessarily, right?'€ he said.

Separately, Umi Hanif, a resident of Kalibata City, said that a tenants'€™ association run by tenants instead of the building management was of great importance.

'€œIt is important for tenants to be involved in the decision making. Further, tenants will also understand what the building management is doing with the money they collect from tenants each month. It will ensure a much more transparent management,'€ Umi said over the phone on Tuesday.

She said tenants had the right to know and disapprove or approve any changes that would be made in their units, including changes in fees.

Issues on the security and management of apartments came to light after a revelation of various cases that took place in Kalibata City, including prostitution and murder.