In relation to prolonged delays in land acquisition for public parks and cemeteries, Jakarta Governor Basuki “Ahok” Tjahaja Purnama has blamed civil servants at the Jakarta Parks and Cemetery Agency for intentionally obstructing the process.    

Ahok said he planned to dismiss most officers in the agency in the near future.

“If I only dismiss the head of the agency, Ratna Diah Kurniati, it might not be effective. Most employees in the agency, including Ratna’s subordinates, should also be dismissed,” Ahok said at City Hall on Friday.

Ahok referred to a particular land acquisition project in the capital that has been delayed, the procurement of the former British Embassy complex in Central Jakarta. Ahok had in fact given a deadline of no later than May for the agency to finalize the land purchase, so that the city could start converting the area into a public space for residents to stage rallies. However, as of this month, the agency has not completed the purchase.

As the agency has been using administrative problems as an excuse for the slow process, Ahok has suspected the agency of being controlled by a “land mafia” who keep complicating the acquisition so that they can profit from the delay.

Ahok’s patience is apparently running out following the Supreme Audit Agency’s (BPK) report on the 2015 financial report of the Jakarta administration, which shows that the Jakarta Parks and Cemetery Agency had opened four bank accounts using the names of the agency’s offices in North, West, South and East Jakarta, without Ahok’s knowledge and approval.

The former East Belitung regent also discovered reportedly fictitious graveyards in the city, which were mentioned in the audit report but actually did not exist. (dmr)