Govt to spend Rp 2.5 t on public housing

The Jakarta Post  | Sat, 01/31/2009 8:10 PM  

The government will disburse Rp 2.5 trillion (US$220 million) in the form of subsidies to help develop 170,000 units of houses 40,000 apartment units this year. 

State Minister for Public Housing Mohammad Yusuf Asy’ari said in Banda Aceh on Saturday that the subsidies would be equally distributed throughout the province. 

“We will work with the provincial government in distributing the funds. It will be implemented in a first come-first served basis,” Yusuf said. 

Earlier reports state that those eligible to get the subsidy tax payers with monthly income no more than Rp 4.5 million. (and)

City to Fix Drainage

The Jakarta Globe, Ambang Priyonggo, January 31, 2009

The Jakarta administration has allocated Rp 41 billion ($3.6 million) to improve the city’s drainage system this year, Governor Fauzi Bowo said on Friday.

Fauzi said the poor drainage system had already contributed to severe flooding in many areas of the city this year, and that the city needed to allocate special funding in its 2009 budget to plan for drainage projects.

However, Fauzi declined to give any details regarding the additional spending, only adding that the project would be the city’s first priority this year. “We are going to work on it,” he said.

In other efforts to mitigate the flood danger, the city plans to drill five million biopores across the city in coming years. Biopores are small holes that act as organic waste catchments, increasing the absorption of groundwater.

City Secretary Muhayat said that there were currently only about 450 biopores within the city’s five muncipalities, but that efforts were underway to change that. “We expect that there will be one million biopores in each municipality,” he said, while supervising the drilling of 1,000 biopores on the grounds of the National Monument park on Friday.

Muhayat said he would urge district and subdistrict heads to intensify biopore drilling efforts in their areas by enlisting the help of local residents. Biopores, he said, could be drilled in private yards as well as local parks to help cope with rainy season flooding.

Meanwhile, the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency, or BMG, has warned Jakarta residents of heavy rains potentially leading to floods over the next three days.

“We warn Jakarta residents to be aware of the heavy downpours and the likelihood of more flooding in some areas of the city,” BMG spokesman Achmad Zakir Zamawi said.

Achmad added that heavy rain was predicted for Bogor and Depok, which might cause the Ciliwung River to overflow. The BMG has predicted thunderstorms for much of February.

Pay TV operators feeling good for 2009 despite adverse global economic conditions

The Jakarta Post, JAKARTA | Fri, 01/30/2009 11:44 AM 

 

Pay TV operators are confident they can increase their subscribers by between 65 to 70 percent this year to push total users to over 1 million, regardless of the global financial crisis, an industry player say.

 

The optimism comes from the fact that only about 7 percent of  the potential market has been penetrated, according to pay TV subscriber operator Indovision corporate secretary Arya Mahendra Sinulingga.

“The potential market for the industry is around 10 million users, while only 700,000 of them have subscribed to pay TV. It shows that there is still a lot of market share to fight for,” Arya  said.

With the prospect of increasing the number of subscribers by 65 percent, there would be at least 1.1 million subscribers that could  be registered by the end of 2009.

 

With an average fees of Rp 140,000 (US$14) per subscribers per month, the total revenue projected is around Rp 1.87 trillion.

However, the projected number of official subscribers is still smaller than those subscribing to “illegal operators.”

According to Arya, illegal operators usually subscribe to one of the pay TV industry official operator services and then re-distribute the broadcast content for cheaper fees using illegal connection wires and analog signals.

“Based on our investigations, there are around one million subscribers to illegal operators, and they are clearly visible with their cable connections on their roof-tops,”

“There are government regulations for these violations, but in practice, the authorities have yet to make enough efforts to punish the illegal operators,” he added.

Sinulinga said that another challenge the industry would face during the coming year would be the unclear anti-monopoly broadcasting regulations.

The industry saw similar  growth in subscribers from 2007 to 2008, growing from 450,000 subscribers to 700,000 in one year.

This growth was the largest in the Asian pay TV industry scene, according to the Cable and Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia (CASBAA).

Six major companies — Indovision, First Media, IM2, Aura, Telkom Vision and Oke Vision — are participating in the country’s pay TV industry, with Indovision having the largest market share of around 480,000 subscribers (68 percent).  (hdt)

Regional development banks should boost local economies

Aditya Suharmoko, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Fri, 01/30/2009 2:12 PM  

Regional development banks (BPD) are to boost their contributions to stimulating the economy in the regions, to provide alternative liquidity sources amidst the global financial crisis.

“BPDs have so far been acting as a cashier to regional government. With huge regional government funds placed in BPDs, the banks should have moved more actively to support regional development,” Finance Ministry director general of financial balance Mardiasmo said in a seminar Thursday.

He said BPDs should allocate more funds to the real sector, such as infrastructure building and also micro-lending, generating growth, instead of simply placing their funds in the financial sector.

As of December 2008, BPD funds placed in central bank certificates (SBI) reached Rp 24 trillion (US$2.11 billion), and in bonds were Rp 9.3 trillion.

Last year, the ministry transferred Rp 290 trillion, or 33 percent of the state budget, to regional governments, with 94.8 percent of these funds going  through BPDs.

This year, the figure has been raised to Rp 320 trillion.

Such a huge amount can be used to spur growth in the regions while many commercial banks are facing a liquidity squeeze.

Bank Indonesia (BI) deputy governor Siti Ch. Fadjriah said that if BPDs and regional governments could harmonize their objectives then regional economies would grow even faster.

To support BPDs, Mardiasmo said, regional governments, as the banks’ stakeholders, should inject capital and provide financing to the BPDs. (hdt)

Aceh reconstruction body aims to boost

The Jakarta Post, JAKARTA | Sat, 01/31/2009 9:21 AM  

The Aceh-Nias Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Agency (BRR) has allocated part of Rp 168 billion (US$14 million) from a trust fund raised by private donors to a grassroots economy empowerment program in Gayo Lues, an area unharmed by the 2004 tsunami. 

The Reconstruction Aceh-Nias Trust Fund (RANTF), a special unit of the post-tsunami reconstruction body, have built a micro-hydro power plant in the Puteri Betung village. The plant is urgently required in six Gayo Lues villages, where local economies are desperately in need of stimulation, RANTF executive director Nazmiyah Sayuti told a media conference in Jakarta on Friday. 

“This is an environmentally-friendly project which involves the active participation of locals, especially women,” Nazmiyah said. 

The plant will also discourage local people from cutting down trees in the Mount Leuser National Park conservatory. 

State electricity company PLN failed to reach remote villages which are located near the conservation forest. 

RANTF wraps up its work Saturday having distributed funds for infrastructure projects such as schools, housing complexes and hospitals. 

Nazmiyah said the power-plant project would be managed by locals under a kampung-run business, so sustainability was not an issue. 

She said local people had helped build the plant and therefore were entitled to the facility as “rightful owners”. 

With the departure of the RANTF imminent, the Institute for People-Friendly Economies (IBEKA), which assisted RANTF with the project, will continue to guide locals over the next five years to ensure they can independently manage the plant. 

IBEKA executive director Tri Mumpuni Iskandar said the facility would provide a considerable amount of income to the Puteri Beliung village. 

“The plant will supply electricity to five neighboring villages, with each family paying around Rp 100,000 per month. In total, around Rp 125 million per month will be generated from this plant.” 

Aside from the direct income, electricity is expected to also boost productivity in small-scale businesses, especially in the dried candlenuts, dried cocoa and distilled patchouli industries.

“It took the home industry days to process these products, but it now only requires a few hours,” Tri Mumpuni said. 

Nazmiyah said the project would serve as a model of development for the rest of the country.

Despite positive projections for the area, locals have expressed concern the local government will take control of the plant. 

“We do not want the regent to take the power plant away from us,” Syamsudin Lubis, a villager currently working at the facility, said. 

Village development programs have been providing funding for projects in areas such as Papua and Aceh, which enjoy special autonomy status, for several years. (dis)

Papua Officials Seek BRR Development Aid

The Jakarta Globe, Putri Prameshwari, January 29, 2009

 

Authorities in Papua Province hope to learn how to develop the vast province by taking cues from the Aceh-Nias Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Agency, or BRR, which has earned praise for its transparent management and procurement system, officials said on Wednesday.

 

Kuntoro Mangkusubroto, BRR chairman, said Papua Governor Barnabas Suebu had expressed interest in learning about the methods the BRR used to rebuild Aceh after the provincial capital, Banda Aceh, and the province’s western coastline were devastated by the Indian Ocean tsunami in December 2004.

 

“We are ready to help Papua and other disaster-prone parts of Indonesia,” Kuntoro told a panel discussion hosted by the Jakarta Foreign Correspondents Club.

 

Agus Sumule, an adviser to the Papua governor who is in charge of regional development, said in a telephone interview from Jayapura that the province was particularly interested in learning how to build and manage infrastructure.

 

“We’d like to finish projects on time, with no corruption in the process,” Agus said.

 

Papua is one of the country’s most corrupt provinces, according to Indonesian Corruption Watch. Danang Widoyoko, vice coordinator of the watchdog, said weak supervision of local governments was a key problem in Papua. “Good governance in Papua can only be achieved by strengthening law enforcement,” Danang said.

 

Agus said eight officials from Papua would work out of BRR’s office in Aceh for two weeks to learn about how to manage development projects.

 

On Dec. 26, 2004, a 9.1-magnitude earthquake off the west coast of Sumatra Island triggered giant waves that washed away entire villages in Aceh, killing more than 170,000 people and leaving millions more homeless.

 

Three months later, an 8.6-magnitude earthquake struck the region, killing more than 1,000 people on Nias Island and destroying tens of thousands of homes.

 

BRR began work in 2005 and has since rebuilt 90 percent of the homes, roads and public facilities that were destroyed. The agency, which has been praised for its work, will see its mandate expire in April.

 

William Sabandar, head of BRR’s Nias chapter, said an agency team visited Papua earlier this month to run training sessions for local government officials.

 

“They’re mainly interested in how to put budgets into action,” he said, adding that BRR would assist the province with governance issues, help it plan major infrastructure projects and provide guidance on a special program designed to strategically develop remote areas by granting villages Rp 100 million ($8,800) a year.

 

“BRR is offering technical support for [the village program] by setting up a control mechanisms to oversee those funds,” Sabandar said. “There should be an anticorruption division within the initiative.”

 

BRR also plans to share computer software it used to plan projects and ensure fiscal accountability. The agency uses online database software that has allowed the public to track its progress with reconstruction efforts in detail.

 

Danang said that due to a lack of infrastructure, Papuans and even the media were not well-informed about the province’s leaders. “A district head can buy an airplane without people noticing,” he said. “But in some parts of Java, people become suspicious the second a district chief buys a new car.”

 

Law enforcement agencies in Papua, Danang said, are too focused on the separatist movement there to notice corruption. Papua was granted special autonomy by the central government in 2001 as part of efforts to curb separatist unrest, but widespread corruption has hindered development, further fueling separatist sentiment.

 

Heru Prasetyo, BRR’s director of donor and international relations, said any reform program in Papua would be done gradually. “It will take time, especially in more remote parts of Papua.”

 

Jakarta to revamp Manggarai sluice gates

Triwik Kurniasari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Tue, 01/27/2009 1:27 PM  

The city administration plans to build one more gate at South Jakarta's Manggarai sluice gates to regulate the water flow better. 

"The new gate would be installed next to the existing ones, requiring the government to acquire some land plots," Pitoyo Subandrio, head of the Ciliwung-Cisadane Flood Bureau at the Public Works Ministry, said on Saturday. 

"The new gate will reduce flooding because the water will run more smoothly than before." 

Pitoyo said the space for the gates, which were built in the 1920s by the Dutch government, would be widened by a dozen meters. 

The width of a gate is about six meters, excluding the pillars. 

Included in the Manggarai revamp is the clearing of the areas along the Ciliwung River, from the Casablanca bridge to the Manggarai sluice gate. 

Flood management expert Jan Jaap Brinkman from the Netherlands Water Research Institute (Deltares) confirmed the urgency of an additional gate in Manggarai. 

"The Manggarai gates need to be improved because they are too small. At this moment it is two gates, but it needs to be three gates," Brinkman, who is also the team leader of Flood Hazarding Mapping 2 at the Public Works Ministry, said. 

Brinkman was speaking after the signing of an agreement between Indonesia and the Netherlands in the fields of meteorology, water management, climate change and early warning systems. 

The administration is currently running flood mitigation projects in anticipation of the rainy season. 

It is now dredging 12 waterways across the city, including in Pademangan River and Mati canal (in North Jakarta), Cakung River (East Jakarta) and Grogol in West Jakarta. 

The Rp 23 billion (US$2.04 million) project is set to dredge 243,322 cubic meters of garbage out of the canals. The canals range from 467 meters to 3,533 meters long. 

The administration is also working on the East Flood Canal project, which is expected to be completed by the end of this year. The canal will be the primary flood control mechanism for East and North Jakarta. 

The 23.5-kilometer East Flood Canal will stretch across 11 subdistricts in East Jakarta and two subdistricts in North Jakarta. 

PT Pembangunan Jaya Ancol Tbk, developer of the Ancol recreational area, is building another five submersible water pumps at its site in anticipation of floods in February. 

"We are building three new water pumps in West Ancol and two more in East Ancol to add to the existing 62 pumps; we hope they will be finished by February," Nurvita Sari, the developer's manager of property maintenance, said. 

The new and existing pumps, each able to pump 30 cubic meters of water per minute, will drain water from households in Ancol to the Ancol River. 

"After the water reaches Ancol River, it's the city's public works agency's responsibility to channel the water to Pluit and Sunter dams," she said. 

The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), said that in February the sea level would rise 1.2 meters above normal levels due to a high tide, with the possibility of heavy downpours. 

YJ Harwanto, the developer's general manager of its corporate plan, said they were also raising the wave breakers, adding night shifts to watch over the water level and setting up an information board about the sea level. (fmb)

Romance, serenity at the Water Palace

Retno K. Djojo, The Jakarta Post, Thu, 01/22/2009 1:48 PM 

Culture: A view over the ponds of the Soekasada water palace, with the garden compound in the background. (JP/Retno K. Djojo)
 

If you're hungering for a taste of history, art and culture, you will get a good dose in Karangasem regency, in the eastern part of Bali, which is rich in examples of the island's cultural heritage. 

Taman Soekasada or "The Water Palace" in Ujung is one of Bali's finest such cultural treasures. 

It is, in short, an astounding architectural and cultural jewel not to be missed. 

The 12-hectare water palace complex some 5 kilometers south of Amlapura, the capital of Karangasem, is ringed by an ornate fence. 

The three big pavilions float on a serene lotus pond, connected by bridges, creating an intriguing and romantic atmosphere. 

The palace was designed and constructed under the patronage and protection of Karangasem's last king, Anak Agung Anglurah Ketut Karang Asem, in 1926. 

The late ruler, a learned and well-traveled man, modeled Soekasada on the Versailles Palace in France. 

It was originally intended as a meeting place and guesthouse for delegates of the Dutch government and dignitaries of other countries visiting tropical Bali.

 

Serenity: The still waters of a lotus pond in the Soekasada water palace, East Bali, surround one of the pavilions. (JP/Retno K. Djojo)

The wide windows of the pavilions look over the palace waters, testimony to the late ruler's passion for harmonizing nature and art. As a culturalist with an international perspective, he blended traditional motifs with modern materials, and balanced Western-style geometry with a Balinese sense of place and symbolism. To ensure his cultural vision materialized, he personally oversaw work at the construction site. 

A visit is memorable: Take in the exotic blend of western and Middle Eastern architectural styles enlivened with intricated Balinese carvings, or stroll under the Middle Eastern flavored archways held up by elegant Italian columns, or pause a moment in a walkway shaded by frangipangi and mango trees. 

The highest point in the park affords a marvelous view over the distant Lombok Strait and the lush green hills of Mt. Rinjani in Lombok. The view north is a breathtaking panorama of rice terraces set against the backdrop of the mighty Mt. Agung. 

Soekasada sustained severe damage during the eruption of Mt. Agung in 1963 and the earthquake in 1975. 

Because of the future of Bali's rich art and cultural heritage lies in its past, intensive restoration work was carried out from 2000 to 2004 by members of the Karang Asem court. 

Thanks to these efforts, one of Bali's finest examples of its cultural heritage has been saved. 

Fujitsu and NSW win order for Indonesian optic-fiber network

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Fujitsu Limited announced that it and partner Norddeutsche Seekabelwerke GmbH (NSW) of Germany have won a turnkey contract from PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia Tbk (PT Telkom) worth more than US$100 million to install a submarine optic-fiber cable system for the Indonesian islands Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Java, Bali and Lombok. 

The "JaKa2LaDeMa" ring will provide the first direct, high-bandwidth optic-fiber submarine cable system for these Indonesian islands, and is scheduled to be completed in the January-March quarter of 2010, Fujitsu said in press release by Fujitsu Indonesia today. 

JaKa2LaDeMa will deliver the capacity to provide upgradeable transmission facilities that support Internet, e-commerce, video, data and voice services. 

Fujitsu will provide state-of-the-art terminal equipment, repeaters, branching units system integration and associated services for this project. The repeaters will be integrated into the repeatered cables provided by NSW, which will also provide such services as surveying, marine installation and civil works. 

"Fujitsu is extremely pleased to make a significant contribution to the construction of network infrastructure in Indonesia, which is one of the fastest growing markets in the world," commented Gensei Katano, Group vice president of Photonic Systems Group, Submarine Networks at Fujitsu. 

"This win is attributable to our robust network portfolio as well as our strong commitment to Indonesia. We will continue to work closely with NSW for the successful delivery of state-of-the-art submarine cable system to PT Telkom." 

"We are very proud that PT Telkom has awarded us this project," said Rudolf Stahl, managing director at NSW. 

Fujitsu's optical submarine repeater is the most technologically advanced and reliable repeater in the industry. In 40 years of submarine cable experience, Fujitsu has installed more than 2,500 repeaters throughout the world while maintaining a zero-malfunction rate. 

NSW, a worldwide leading manufacturer in the submarine telecom and power cables industry, will be using its MINISUB repeatered and unrepeatered cable, which with its compact and robust design, will provide excellent performance, cable handling, laying and recovery characteristics. 

In accordance with the customer requirements, the cable will be delivered in the versions lightweight, lightweight-protected, single-armored and double-armored.

Water from Surabaya Rivers is Undrinkable

Wednesday, 21 January, 2009 | 14:18 WIB

 

TEMPO Interactive, Surabaya:An official from the East Java governor’s office, Setia Purwaka, said the quality of the river water in Surabaya is undrinkable. The water quality standard has failed to qualify for category I, which is consumable. “The current condition is nowhere near that category,” Setia said following the launch of ‘Stop Surabaya River Pollution’ program at Jasa Tirta I company in Surabaya yesterday.

 

One examples, he said, can be seen from the biological oxygen demand (BOD) content in the water. In potable water, the BOD level should not exceed 2 milligram per liter. However, the BOD level in Surabaya rivers has reached 5 milligram per liter.

 

East Java Environmental Agency chief, Dewi Putriatni, said there are currently 50 – 60 big companies along the rivers of Gresik, Sidoarjo and on towards Surabaya. “Most of these companies do not have waste management facilities,” she said.

 

ANANG ZAKARIA

Experts call for safe zone after fire

The Jakarta Post,  Jakarta  |  Wed, 01/21/2009 12:07 PM 

 

Urban planning experts highlighted the importance of buffer zones at key locations following the fire at Pertamina’s fuel depot in Plumpang, North Jakarta.

 

“Ideally, there should be a safe zone of 100 meters to 200 meters separating the fuel depot from residential areas,” Surjono Herlambang, an urban planning expert from Tarumanegara University, said on Tuesday.

Surjono said that the buffer zone was needed to allow fire fighters and other workers access to the premises during emergencies.

“That zone must not have any residences,” he said.

During the early years of the depot, Plumpang was far away from residential areas, but over the last decade squatters have been living as close as 30 meters from the depot.

Following Sunday’s blaze that claimed one life and disrupted fuel supplies in the city, Vice President Jusuf Kalla told Pertamina to clear the areas around their depots as part of their safety precautions although police have yet to complete their investigation over the cause of the fire.

“Both parties, the city administration and Pertamina, have a responsibility to provide the safe zone,” Kalla  said.

He said that the city’s responsibility is to enforce their regulations, and require Pertamina to clear the residential areas near the depot for safety reasons.

Ridwan Kamil, a senior architect, said that the city was too lenient in giving away building permits which encourages residential buildings to be built too close to strategic locations.

 

“Plumpang is not the only place where residents live nearby vital locations. For example, the Soekarno-Hatta International Airport can no longer be expanded as the areas nearby have already been occupied by houses and other real estate developments,” he added.

“The city administration must stop giving away building permits easily or we’ll see more key locations surrounded by residential areas,” he added.

Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo said that his administration would establish a buffer zone near the depot, but the details were still under discussion.

“A vital location like Pertamina’s fuel depot needs a wide open area to avoid direct contact,” Fauzi said.

Over the decade, the world has seen several fuel depot explosions. In 1999, a gas pipe explosion in Laem Chabang, Thailand, critically injured two workers. In March 2005, an isomerization unit belonging to British Petroleum in Texas City, United States, exploded, killing 15 workers and injuring more than 170 others, In December 2005, the Buncefield fuel depot in Hertfordshire, England, exploded but there were no casualties. (fmb)

Rotterdam helps dredge city rivers

Agnes Winarti, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta, Tue, 01/20/2009 3:11 PM 

The city of Rotterdam will hand over equipment to help dredge rivers in Jakarta as technical assistance offered by the Dutch city to the capital now that a pilot dredging phase has ended.

“Tomorrow [Tuesday], we will officially transfer the dredging equipment to the governor. They include two floating bulldozers and specialized equipment which separates river sediment from waste,” river dredging project team leader Daan Rijks told The Jakarta Post on Monday.  He was speaking on the sidelines of a seminar about the Port of Rotterdam here.

The small bulldozers can maneuver in canals only two to three meters wide, while a medium-sized one can enter and clear out canals 15 by 20 meters wide.

Dutch experts have been training city employees since November 2009 to use the equipment in a pilot project that cleaned out sections of the Kali Mati and Pademangan rivers in North Jakarta.

“We will work side by side until February or March. Then people here will take over; we’ll come back to advise and consult,” Rijks added.

“We start in April then continue this project for the next two years,” Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo said Monday.

Fauzi has said the dredging would include not only waterways in Jakarta but also in upstream areas.

The technical assistance provided by the Rotterdam administration is part of a World Bank funded project of US$150 million in soft loans and a $10 million grant. 

The project has two stages: dredging and repairing embankments and water pumps, beginning this year, and improving human resource capacity to mitigate floods until 2012.

Fauzi also said, “Within my five-year term, I’m aiming to complete the East Flood Canal project by 2010.”

Vice Mayor of Rotterdam Lucas Bolsius said the dredging project need better planning from Jakarta administration to ensure its success.

“Even in Rotterdam and Holland, we are making plans for the next hundred of years.”

Condos Canceled As Demand Dries Up

The Jakarta Globe, Dian Ariffahmi, January 20, 2009

 

Indonesia is facing a gloomy outlook in its condominium business as some property companies defer their apartment projects and return their customers’ money as demand slows, a property analyst said on Monday.

 

“The tight monetary policy [high interest rates and tighter loan approvals] has impacted on project cash flow and turned off prospective buyers,” Utami Prastiana, a property analyst from Procon Indah, said in Jakarta, adding that further delays were likely to affect the sector until mid-2009.

 

One Park Residences, which has been developed in Kebayoran Baru by PT Gandaria Permai, a subsidiary company of PT Intiland Development Tbk, has delayed its condominium project and is going to return condo buyers’ money with interest soon, he said.

 

Utami said there were two other developers which had also canceled their projects because of the crisis, but refused to name them.

 

The Rp 300 billion ($27 million) residence projects, which was previously planned to be launched in the fourth quarter last year, was canceled due to the increasing price of project materials and a lack of demand from buyers, he said.

 

“In the fourth quarter last year the country’s rate for the amount of presold condominiums declined only slightly from 0.4 percent from its previous quarter of 95.6 percent to 95.2 percent,” Utami said.

 

The declining rate, she said, would continue into the first quarter this year, and likely to balloon to between 3 to 10 percent.

 

“Condo buyers are in a wait-and-see mode and prefer to keep their plans on hold until the interest rate goes back to normal or at least decreases from the current rate,” Utami said.

 

Procon’s 2008 report stated that 8,000 new condominiums were sold in Jakarta in 2008 from a supply of 8,400. The number sharply declined from the previous year’s report which saw around 12,000 units produced and sold in the same year.

 

In 2009, projected annual net supply of around 10,000 units will have a net take up of only 6,600. About 6,100 of those units are in mostly in less preferable locations such as on the borders of Jakarta, Utami said.

 

“Developers and buyers will be more rational in their investment decisions, therefore a few projects may not be completed on time,” he said.

Palembang set to process waste to fix power crisis

Khairul Saleh, THE JAKARTA POST, PALEMBANG | Sat, 01/17/2009 5:24 PM  

The Palembang municipality in South Sumatra is planning to build a garbage-based power generating station in an effort to address waste management issues as well as the chronic power crisis in the city, a senior official said recently. 

The assistant to the City Secretary on planning and economic affairs, Apriadi S. Busri, said the project expected to address power shortages in Palembang. 

He said the station would be located at major landfill dumping sites in Kramasan, Kertapati, or Sukawinatan in Sukarami district, as the project required such huge volumes of garbage to operate. 

"Waste management will apply three methods reuse, reduce and recycle by sorting organic and nonorganic waste," he said. 

Besides processing garbage into fertilizer and methane gas to feed the power plant, the planned landfill areas have been set aside as future recreation areas, provided the recycling and sanitation processes operate smoothly. 

"A special drainage system will be built at the Kramasan landfill so that garbage can be deposited underground and processed into methane to then generate electricity," said Apriadi. 

The central government has provided Rp 5 billion (US$453,000) in funding for the project and also for a waste water processing plant. 

The municipality has appointed Japanese consortium PT Gikoko Kogyo Indonesia to produce methane at the Sukawinatan landfill. 

"We have signed a working contract with PT Gikoko. They are now waiting for their equipment to arrive so production can begin," said Apriadi. 

Palembang City Sanitation Agency head Zulfikri Simin said power generation from waste was feasible, provided there was a minimum supply of 500 tons of garbage per day, the equivalent of generating 2 megawatts of power. 

However, the municipality has been hampered by the limited number of garbage trucks in the area and the lack of overall transportation capacity. Sanitary workers can only transport between 3,000 and 5,000 cubic meters of garbage to the Sukawitan and Karya Jaya landfills per day. 

Zulfikri said PT Gikoko had been somewhat slow in beginning the process of converting waste to methane gas, considering operations were supposed to have started at the end of last year. 

The company is currently carrying out excavation work at landfills, collecting waste which will then be processed into methane.

Pasar Minggu, Mayestik next markets in queue for face-lift

Triwik Kurniasari, THE JAKARTA POST, JAKARTA | Sat, 01/17/2009 2:06 PM 

 

City-owned market operator PD Pasar Jaya plans to revamp Pasar Minggu and Mayestik market, both in South Jakarta, into two modern, integrated areas.

 

Pasar Jaya spokesman Nur Haviz said the operator would integrate the shopping center with office buildings, bus terminal and train station in the Pasar Minggu area.

 

“Basically, we want to reduce traffic snarls in the area. The traffic is chaotic because there is no proper bus terminal there,” Haviz told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

 

“The condition gets worse because many people cross the busy street instead of taking the pedestrian overpass,” he said, adding that Pasar Minggu had potential because it connected Jakarta with Depok, south of the capital.

 

Pasar Minggu, which used to be famous for its fruit market, will have a new building design, he said.

 

“We will erect some lanes and pedestrian overpasses connecting Pasar Minggu train station with the shopping center and bus terminal.

 

“We will cooperate with some institutions, like the city transportation agency and railway operator PT Kereta Api,” he said.    

 

“There’s also a possibility that we will establish the bus terminal below or above the shopping center. It will be like the Blok M area [South Jakarta],” Haviz said.

 

Besides Pasar Minggu market, Pasar Jaya plans to rejuvenate Mayestik market in the near future. 

 

Famous for fabric, tailors and beads, Mayestik market, which was established in 1956, was previously known for its medicine shops. When the updated Mayestik market was opened in 1981, garment vendors began to dominate the 6,500-square-meter market.

 

The market will be renovated into a four-story building, with a parking lot at the top and in the basement.

 

“Hopefully, the parking lot will be big enough to accommodate visitors’ vehicles, solving the on-road parking problems,” Haviz said. 

 

“Vendors will be [temporarily] relocated to Jl. Tebah 1-3 and Jl. Taman Tebah [all in South Jakarta],”  he said.

 

The face-lifts are part of Pasar Jaya’s program to redevelop markets throughout the city.

It is now drafting revisions of regional bylaws on market management to allow for more facilities.

 

Earlier, Pasar Jaya head Uthand H. Sitorus said the revisions of a 1992 bylaw on market management and a 1999 bylaw on Pasar Jaya would give the operator greater opportunity to develop markets.

 

According to the current bylaws, it only has the authority to build and operate markets.

If the City Council approves the revisions, Uthand said, Pasar Jaya could build other facilities, such as offices and apartments, above the traditional markets.

 

Pasar Jaya has sought to turn its traditional markets into cleaner, modern markets.

Conflict has arisen between the operator and vendors over the renovation plans of markets throughout the city, with vendors saying the new designs disadvantage them and that the post-renovation rents are too high.

Govt ruined Majapahit artifacts

The Jakarta Post, JAKARTA | Thu, 01/15/2009 3:29 PM 

 

The government admitted Wednesday the construction of Majapahit Park in Trowulan, East Javaa project initiated by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono - has ruined ancient artifacts buried beneath the site, and announced a plan to relocate the park immediately.

 

Bowing to mounting public pressure, Minister for Culture and Tourism Jero Wacik told reporters in Jakarta that the decision had been reached after he and several senior archeologists and architects had spoken about the damages to artifacts of the ancient Majapahit kingdom on the site. "I swear, I never meant to destroy Indonesia's heritage by constructing the Majapahit Park. I just wanted to follow the presidential instruction to revive the civilization of the Majapahit Kingdom as our heritage and to introduce it to young people," he said.

 

The project, initiated by Yudhoyono in November 2008 to establish a public cultural center dedicated to the ancient Majapahit kingdom, which was at the height of its powers in the 13th century, is located on a 2,200 square-meter plot just north of the center of what was once Trowulanthe largest city in the kingdom.

 

A number of archeologists have said the park construction, which sunk support pillars into the ground, had destroyed ancient stones, walls and artifacts.

 

I understand why the archeologists are mad at me. I'm also angry at the situation. This is human error and we have to fix it rather than blaming one another," Jero said.

 

"We have decided to relocate Majapahit Park to another area to prevent further damage to the artifacts."

 

Arya Abieta, a member of the team appointed to evaluate the damage, said the archeologists and architects working in the area had recommended that the park instead be developed on the edges of the historical site.

 

can use the area that has been heavily looted by locals. It will be safer than building on top of the remaining artifacts," Arya said.

 

The Trowulan site, located in Mojokerto, 70 kilometers southwest of Surabaya, East Java, was the site of tradition full-moon rituals during the golden era of the Majapahit Kingdom.

 

Long after the decline of the kingdom in 14th century, locals began to loot the palace and religious buildings, including Tikus Temple. Many artifacts have been stolen or destroyed.

 

"No one seemed to care much about this old city before the Majapahit Park project began. Now, every one seems to care, and this is good because we have to protect the Majapahit artifacts," Jero said. (naf)

PLN to Open Bids For 83 Power Plants

The Jakarta Globe, Reva Sasistiya, January 16, 2009 

State electric utility company PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara, or PLN, will open tenders in February for a second “fast-track” program to build 83 power plants that would supply a total of more than 10,000 megawatts to the national grid by 2014, a PLN official said on Thursday. 

The first construction tender would be for a $2.57 billion coal-fired plant in Pemalang, Central Java Province, with a 2,000 MW capacity, Bambang Praptono, PLN’s director of planning and strategy, said. 

“Some major companies have shown interest, including Japan’s Marubeni Corp., German’s Siemens Corp. and France’s Areva,” Bambang said. 

Indonesia desperately needs additional generation capacity to deal with the frequent blackouts brought about by PLN’s low reserve margin of 20 percent, the amount by which capacity exceeds maximum demand. 

PLN wants independent power producers to supply a majority of the planned additional capacity, said Jacobus Purwono, the Ministry of Energy’s director general of electricity. PLN expects to handle only 30 percent of the new capacity. 

“We want IPPs to take the lead in the second fast-track program,” Purwono said. 

The project is expected to be completed in 2014, with a total installed capacity of 11,144 MW, 68 percent of which would be provided by coal, 19 percent from geothermal sources, 10 percent from gas and hydropower for the rest. PLN said 18 plants would be in Java, while the rest would be spread across Indonesia. 

PLN’s first fast-track program began in 2006 with total expected construction costs of $4.5 billion. The program is expected to provide an additional 10,000 MW of capacity when it goes online in 2010. PLN said total capital expenditures for 2009 may reach Rp 46.37 trillion ($4.17 billion). 

Previously, 152 IPPs had shown interest in the program, but only 16 successfully obtained funding. Purwono said the government had yet to decide on whether it was going to guarantee loans used to fund the construction of private power plants . 

Indonesia’s electricity demand has been growing at an annual rate of about 7 percent for the past five years and is expected to rise to 9 percent per year over the next decade. Of the total installed capacity of 29,422 MW, PLN supplies 85.7 percent and 16 IPPs contribute the rest.