Low-cost apartments built for students

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

In a bid to provide better facilities and welfare for students, the government would build 43 low-cost apartment complexes for universities this year, a minister says.

Public Housing Minister Yusufsaid Thursday his office planned to build student accommodation in various cities across Indonesia.

"We have allocated Rp 9 billion (US$975,135) under the state budget to build student accommodation. Building apartments for students has been our main concern because it is important to support the learning process," he said.want to encourage students to live in apartments because there is less and less land available for housing in big cities in Indonesia," he said after the groundbreaking ceremony for the construction of apartments at the University of Muhammadiyah Prof. Dr. Hamka (Uhamka) in Ciracas, East Jakarta.

Asked about other universities which would get similar facilities, Yusuf said the selection process was still underway.

He said around 60 universities throughout Indonesia had applied for the student accommodation.

"We still have to select which (other) universities will get apartments," he said.

Under the plan, universities provide land while the ministry would build the apartments.

Last August, Yusuf initiated four apartment projects at three universities; One for University of Gadjah Mada in Yogyakarta, one for the Indonesian Islam University (also in Yogyakarta) and two for Diponegoro University in Semarang, Central Java.

Uhamka dean Suyatno said the ministry would build two apartments, one each for male and female students, on a 6,332-square-meter block of land. There will be a total of 112 rooms measuring between 21 and 27-square-meters and each would accommodate four students.

The project is expected to be complete within six to eight months.

Suyatno said new students would have priority to rent and stay in the apartments, which would be built in Campus B in Ciracas, East Jakarta.

"We are concerned that new students who come from outside Jakarta and can not afford high rent. They sometimes have difficulty finding low-cost and appropriate boarding houses. That's why we want to help them by providing accommodation," Suyatno said.

The university has 9,700 students including 2,700 freshmen.

He realized the student apartments would not accommodate all the new students.will establish an team to select which students can rent and stay in the apartments," he said, adding that the rent fees had not been set.

"It's too early to say anything about the rent. We haven't set up a mechanism for it either. We hope the rent will be much cheaper than rents for boarding houses nearby, which cost around Rp 300,000 per month.

Uhamka students responded to the apartment project positively.

Siti Amaliah, 20, said it was a great idea.

"It will be helpful to students who come from other cities," she said.

"But the university dean should explain more about which students would qualify to get rooms in the apartment." (trw)