The Jakarta administration has decided to resume the construction of five low-cost apartment complexes after conducting audits of the projects that had been halted as a result of problems with contractors.

The city inspectorate has completed the audit, the results of which showed the apartment projects could proceed, acting Jakarta Governor Sumarsono said on Tuesday.

The five low-cost apartment projects are Cakung Barat, Jl. Bekasi Kilometer 2 and Rawa Bebek in East Jakarta, as well as North Jakarta’s Semper and Marunda projects.

With 2016 almost ended, the projects will resume next year, Sumarsono said.

“We need to build the apartments to accommodate around 11,000 families who are waiting to be relocated,” he said referring to evicted people living illegally on riverbanks and elsewhere.

The completion level of each project is around 60 percent. However, before resuming the projects, the city administration will first conduct checks to make sure the work is fit to be resumed.

The checking measures will involve officials from the Public Works and Public Housing Ministry, Sumarsono said adding that the examinations were urgent as the city did not want to jeopardize the wellbeing of the future tenants.

As the previous contracts were terminated, the city administration will open a tender to choose new contractors for the completion of the projects.

“We hope the bidding can start on Jan. 2, so the construction can continue as fast as possible,” Sumarsono said.

The city administration has allocated Rp 3.2 trillion (US$240 million) from the 2016 city budget to build 2,443 units in 39 locations in Jakarta to support the eviction programs.

Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama, who is on leave to campaign in the 2017 Jakarta gubernatorial election, ordered a halt to the construction of the five apartments in October following findings that the construction quality was below the administration’s
standards.

“The construction process of five apartments was careless. They did not lay good foundations for the buildings,” he previously said.

Jakarta Public Housing and Government Building Agency head Arifin said Tuesday the other projects canceled by the city administration were two housing projects in Cengkareng Barat and Muara Baru in West Jakarta.

The Cengkareng Barat project was canceled because of alleged fraud uncovered by the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK), which revealed that the land procured for 552 units of low-cost apartments, worth Rp 648 billion, was already owned by the city administration.

Meanwhile the project in Muara Baru was canceled as the land ownership was still in dispute in court, which prevented the administration purchasing the land.

The city administration has a target of building at least 50,000 low-cost apartments by the end of 2018 to be allocated for evictees from various places, ranging from river banks to state land plots.

The city had aimed to clear 325 locations throughout the capital this year following its plans to widen and embank rivers in the capital as part of flood mitigation programs. The evictions include illegal settlements along the Ciliwung River and Luar Batang village in North Jakarta.

However, as a result of the low-cost housing backlog, most of the eviction plans have been put on hold.

Data from the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH Jakarta) showed that a total of 113 evictions were carried out in Jakarta in 2015. The evictions, the institute said, affected 8,145 families and 6,283 businesses.

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