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akarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama acknowledged on Thursday his administration had invited some developers to finance evictions in a number of places in the capital such as in Waduk Pluit, North Jakarta, in 2013.

Ahok revealed some of the companies involved in the evictions included city-owned developer PT Jakarta Propertindo (Jakpro) and private companies PT Pembangunan Jaya Ancol, PT Intiland and PT Agung Podomoro Land (APL). These companies are set to develop islets in the Jakarta Bay reclamation project.

“They [the developers] have to work for the city first before we give them permission,” said Ahok, adding that the administration had never received cash from the developers.

He demanded that developers become directly involved in the development process, including in evictions. “We don’t know who you hire and how you proceed with the city’s projects. What matters is you finish the projects and then we can count how much it costs.”

Requiring private companies to finance the evictions, he said, was a form of compensation for the city before the companies received permission for projects from the administration.

However, Ahok refused to elaborate on whether the projects were related to Jakarta’s controversial reclamation project.

He went on to say that in the Waduk Pluit case, the administration had demanded that PT Jakpro not only fund the eviction, but also build an inspection road.

He added that once the eviction had proceeded and the inspection road was built, the administration could then determine whether the company had disbursed costs as much as the administration had required.

However, Ahok denied a recent allegation that APL had funded the eviction of residents in Kalijodo – an area formerly known as the city’s biggest and oldest red-light district on the border of North and West Jakarta.

“No, we used our provincial budget,” Ahok said, adding that the administration had provided operational fees for thousands of military and police personnel and public order officers, who each received Rp 250,000 (US$19) per day.

The Kalijodo eviction was held for three days from Feb. 29, and involved no less than 6,000 security personnel from a joint team.

Previously, APL president director Ariesman Widjaja reportedly told the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) that his company had funded the eviction to the tune of Rp 6 billion based on a request from Ahok.

Ariesman is currently being held by the KPK along with Jakarta city councilor Mohamad Sanusi of the Gerindra Party after both parties were found to have been involved in a bribery case in March regarding the reclamation draft bylaws.

In the same month, the council was deliberating two draft bylaws that were crucial to regulating the zoning of Jakarta’s coastal areas and also the 17 man-made islets in the reclamation project, including islet G constructed and marketed by APL.

Following the bribery case, the council decided to halt deliberations on the draft bylaws and the central government froze all activities regarding the reclamation project.

The KPK questioned Ahok on Tuesday as a witness regarding the permits he issued for islets. The governor pointed the finger at his predecessor Fauzi “Foke” Bowo, who issued the first reclamation permits.

The anti-graft body might summon Foke, who is currently Indonesian ambassador in Germany, to cross check with Ahok’s testimony.