D

espite a lack of relevant certification from the National Land Agency (BPN), several developers of the 17 planned man-made islets off the north coast of Jakarta have begun developing, marketing and selling properties to customers.

North Jakarta BPN head Admiral Faisal said that developers were obliged to obtain a right-to-build (HGB) certificate from the Jakarta administration as the sole holder of a right-to-manage (HPL) certificate before commencing construction. Reclaimed land, Admiral explained, was rightfully owned by the government '€”in this case the Jakarta administration'€”according to Article 12 of Government Regulation No. 16/2004 on land management.

Furthermore, according to Article 4 of Agriculture Ministry Regulation No. 9/1999 on procedures for issuing and canceling state land management rights, a developer is required to submit a cooperation agreement with the legal owner of the HPL certificate to the local BPN in order to receive a HGB certificate.

However, the North Jakarta BPN had yet to issue an HPL to the city administration, he said, meaning no HGBs could yet be issued either.

'€œConstruction on land cannot begin if a developer does not have an HGB, which is obtained from the city administration. The city administration must first obtain a HPL, issued by the BPN, before issuing an HGB to a developer. According to the records of the North Jakarta BPN, we have not yet issued an HPL for any of the reclaimed islets,'€ he said during a meeting with the city administration and the city council to discuss the bylaw draft on Friday.

Nonetheless, apartments on the reclaimed land have begun to be marketed and sold by developers, such as islets C and D developer PT Kapuk Naga Indah, a subsidiary of Agung Sedayu Group. Prices on islet D, marketed as Golf Island, can be seen on its website golfisland-pik.com, which lists a 174-square-meter house on a 160-sqm plot of land at Rp 6.2 billion (US$455,126), or about Rp 35.9 million per sqm.

Similarly, Islet G developer PT Muara Wisesa Samudera, a subsidiary of Agung Podomoro Land, has started marketing its islet as Pluit City.

Marketing agents for both companies have started selling the properties to certain target markets, mostly Chinese Indonesians, who consider the Pluit area amenable to prosperity.

The Jakarta Tax Agency, meanwhile, has not determined the taxable value of property (NJOP) for property on the islets, though deputy agency head Edi Sumantri said that the city administration could determine the NJOP based on the value of similar areas nearby.

For example, the NJOP at Ancol Barat was set at Rp 22 million per square meter, Pantai Indah Kapuk and Green Bay at Rp 18 million, Puri Jimbaran at Rp 23 million and Pantai Mutiara at Rp 18 million, he said.

'€œWe have not yet determined the NJOP for the islets. We can either set the NJOP based on nearby areas, or set it based on the prices set by the developers,'€ Edi explained.

City council legislation committee deputy head Merry Hotma of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) accused the administration of failing to be firm with land reclamation developers, allowing them to continue development despite a lack of clear technical regulations and documents from the city administration.

Merry said that the developers currently only had permits to carry out land reclamation, not develop the reclaimed land. Councilors also criticized the city administration for failing to determine the NJOP for the islets, leaving developers free to set their own prices.

'€œThe city administration has been too lenient with developers. It could be dangerous if the developers continue construction without a clear regulation on land reclamation [...] As such, we will set clear and strict regulations in the upcoming bylaw, and we are scrutinizing the draft to ensure there are no loopholes,'€ Merry said.