Italy's deadly flirtation with illegal building

Yahoo – AFP, Ella IDE, August 23, 2017

The Ischia quake measured just 4.0 Magnitude -- on the seismic scale, a modest
event. Yet houses collapsed and two people died. Now experts are pointing the
finger at Italy's chronic problem of illegal construction (AFP Photo/Handout)

Rome (AFP) - As Italy reels from another earthquake, experts warned Wednesday that widespread illegal construction is putting millions across the country at risk of being killed.

The tremor that shook the island of Ischia on Monday, toppling houses and killing two women, has sparked much soul-searching in a country with a weakness for rule-breaking -- particularly when it comes to building or renovating houses.

Geologists insisted that the relatively minor 4.0-magnitude quake should not have killed anyone and the civil protection agency laid the blame on the "many structures built with shoddy and illegal materials" on the island.

Residents there have put in 28,000 requests for amnesties for infringement of building regulations in the last 30 years.

Attempts by the council to tear down illegal constructions have sparked fury, with locals clashing with riot police.

The same battle is waged daily across Italy -- predominantly in the poorer south, the playground of Italy's mafias.

The mayor of Licata in Sicily was ousted this month by councillors infuriated by his campaign against illegal housing.

Italy's national statistic institute (ISTAT) warned last year of a "decisive rise in the level of illegality" in construction, involving nearly 20 new buildings in every 100. That number rose to 60 in every 100 in some regions in the south.

The scale "has no equal in other advanced economies," it said.

Worse, buildings allegedly restored under strict anti-seismic norms collapsed in quakes last year, including schools.

And while some buildings at risk due to poor-quality materials or unlicensed extensions are subject to demolition orders, only around 10 percent of them are carried out.

Corruption, incompetence

The worst offender is the Calabria region, followed by Sicily and the Basilicata in the instep of boot-shaped Italy.

But it is Campania -- encompassing Naples and Ischia island -- which is dubbed the "Russian Roulette of Italy" by experts because of its deadly mix of illegal houses, a high-density population and the active volcano Vesuvius.

There are over 4,500 schools, 259 hospitals and nearly 900,000 buildings in the highest-risk areas of the region.

"For at least the last 20 years the scientific community has been explaining the problem to the institutions, above all pushing for prevention measures," said Stefano Carlino, researcher at the national geographic institute in Naples.

"They are expensive of course, but also fundamental. Unfortunately the issue has not been given the attention it needs," he said.

Geologist Mario Tozzi warns Vesuvius is nothing compared to the activity seen at the nearby volcanic Phlegraean Fields over the last few years, including a rise in the ground-level of 25 centimetres (inches), tremors and ever-hotter gases.

"The Phlegraean Fields is a supervolcano made up of some 30 craters -- gaily occupied today by hippodromes and hospitals -- the eruption of which would spark the permanent exodus of half a million people," he said.

And how to forget Marsili, the undersea volcano south of Naples which is "70 kilometres (43.5 miles) long and 3,000 metres tall (10,000 feet), and just off the Calabrian coast", where an eruption could trigger a tsunami as well as devastate cities and towns.

As Italy marks the anniversary of a 2016 quake in central Italy that killed 299 people, Tozzi insisted it was not nature that buries children alive in rubble but "corruption, political incompetence and our incapability to learn from history".

And sometimes not even a tremor is needed to topple buildings: eight people died in July when an apartment block collapsed near Naples, killing among others the municipal architect in charge of building security checks in the area.

West Java administration to tear down hundreds of villas in Puncak

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Tue, 04/20/2010 8:54 PM

West Java deputy governor Dede Yusuf said Tuesday that authorities would continue demolishing illegal villas in Puncak, West Java.

“Last year, we have destroyed almost 120 villas,” said Dede in Bandung, West Java, as quoted by tempointeraktif.com. "This year, we are eyeing to tear down around 100 illegal villas."

The West Java administration has ordered the demolition of illegal villas since 2008.

Land conversion from tea plantation to villas had become a trend in Puncak area over the past few years, said Dede.

City to seize BTS antennae from illegally built towers

Triwik Kurniasari, The Jakarta Post, JAKARTA | Fri, 03/06/2009 10:29 AM

The city will take down and seize antennae from illegally erected base transceiver station (BTS) towers as it seeks to cut back on tower numbers.

Hari Sasongko, head of the property control and building monitoring (P2B) agency, said Thursday this was far cheaper more reasonable than dismantling the towers.

“It costs about Rp 5 million to Rp 7.5 million to dismantle a tower. That’s very expensive. So we chose to disable the towers by seizing the antennae,” he said.

“We have allocated funds of Rp 1 billion to for this operation.”

Since 2007, the P2B has dismantled 85 illegally built towers.

Officials and critics say Jakarta has become a city of towers, with many towers built each year without the necessary permits, the agency reported.

Of 3,124 towers in the capital, 1,028 do not have building permits, according to P2B data.

Hari admitted lack of monitoring was the main reason for the mushrooming of BTS towers.

“It’s hard for us to control tower developments, due to human resource constraints,” he said.

“We used to have only one team to arrange building permits and control the towers. Now we have two different teams handling the two responsibilities. There will be building inspectors to check the towers. We will no longer tolerate tower owners who breach regulations.”

He added his office was in discussions with the city’s spatial planning agency to determine which areas were appropriate for setting up BTS towers.

Spatial planning agency head Wiriyatmoko said he hoped cell phone operators would share towers to cut back on tower numbers.

“Three operators or more can share a tower. Ideally, this city needs no more than 700 towers,” he said.

Gunawan Tjahjono, a professor of architecture from the University of Indonesia, previously said shared towers could help ease the “visual” and space pollution problems.

Merza Fachys, chairman of the Indonesian Association of Cellular Telecommunications, said one reason why BTS towers were mushrooming was because they needed high positions.

But he pointed out that a BTS did not necessarily require a tower.

“We can put BTS on the roofs of tall buildings,” he said.

In addition to visual pollution, the sprouting of towers and BTS has also sparked protests from local residents.

In early February, residents of Lagoa in Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta, raised concerns that a BTS tower on Jl. Mengkudu posed health risks through radiation.

Wiriyatmoko said the administration was still developing a fiber optic network aimed at reducing the number of BTS.

He added the network would be more cost effective for BTS owners because the equipment could be attached to existing buildings, street lamps or pedestrian bridges, and would not require tall towers.

The network is also expected to be able to improve Internet connections for high schools.

1,265 villas on protected Puncak face eviction

The Jakarta Post, Sat, 02/14/2009 2:44 PM

CIBINONG: The Bogor administration plans to tear down 1,265 villas, which were built on protected land in Puncak, West Java.

On Friday, the head of the Bogor property control and management agency, Mas'an Djajuli, said the eviction was made after his agency completed data on villas failing to arrange building permits (IMB).

"If everything falls into place, we will start bringing down those villas next Thursday," he was quoted by tempointeraktif.com. -JP

Buildings cleared from riverbanks

The Jakarta Post, Wed, 12/31/2008 10:50 AM

JAKARTA: West Jakarta administration cleared around 240 makeshift buildings from the banks of the Semongol River in Tegal Alur, West Jakarta, on Tuesday.

"This is part of our flood prevention program," said Heryanto, head of West Jakarta public works agency's water management unit, as quoted by beritajakarta.com on Tuesday.

The administration had advised residents of the planned evictions and demolitions a long time ago, Heryanto said. It did not provide the evictees with any compensation because they were squatters "occupying restricted areas," he added.

The administration claims the illegal buildings cause the river to become shallower and narrower, shrinking from 18 to 6-meters-wide.

West Jakarta plans to extend the width of the river to 12 meters, and deepen it to 2 meters from its present 50 centimeters. -JP

Pluit squatters to be evicted

JAKARTA (Jakarta Post): In an effort to prevent floods in Jakarta, the city administration plans to evict thousands of squatters from around the Pluit Dam next year.

"We will clear illegal housing from around the dam next year as the squatters are occupying one of Jakarta's water catchment areas," Economy Bureau development assistant Nurfakih Wirawan said Monday.

The Pluit Dam has shrunk in size significantly in recent years.

"We hope the squatters understand that the evictions are for their own good," Nurfakih said, without mentioning plans for their future resettlement.

It is estimated between 7,000 and 8,000 families live in the area.

Unlicensed lodges on the rise at popular beaches

Prodita Sabarini, The Jakarta Post, Denpasar

The rocky beaches of Bali's southern coastline have long been a shared secret of surfers seeking the perfect break.

Dreamland, Bingin and Padang-Padang beaches near Bali's southernmost beach, Uluwatu, are like sugar to ants for surfers from around the world. Once the secret surf spots of just a few surfers, the beaches are now renowned worldwide, with regular surf competitions held there.

However, with rising fame comes rapid development, threatening the very source of the attraction to the area; the secluded pristine beaches.

The development of lodges without permits in Dreamland, Bingin and Padang-Padang began in the 1990s. With the exception of Dreamland, the construction of unlicensed lodges has increased with the rising popularity of the beaches.

Under Badung regency's spatial planning, Bingin and Padang-Padang are classified as limited areas; where construction is prohibited.

In Dreamland, officials are currently tearing down by-the-beach lodges and small shops as construction of a massive resort there continues.

Developers of the Pecatu Indah Resort this year continued the construction a golf course, condominium and marina complex on a 650-hectare Indian Ocean beachfront property.

The project, conceived by former president Soeharto's son, Hutomo Mandala Putra, began in 1997 but was stalled after the Asian financial crisis and the toppling of Soeharto.

Many warung and lodges -- mostly owned by locals -- that been evicted from the area and have migrated to the neighboring beach of Bingin.

Bingin beach, located under a cliff, has perfect waves for surfing. During the 1990s, locals started building small cottages on the sides of the cliff, with breathtaking views of the Indian Ocean.

This perfect spot has attracted other locals and foreigners to also set up cottages, resulting in dozens of unlicensed accommodation premises on both sides of the cliff and also on top of it.

During the months of March to June, the places are packed with surfers from around the world.

Although a number of construction projects are currently underway at Bingin, Badung Regency's Housing, Planning and Urban Development agency head Suwandi said his office had never released permits to build there.

"It's a limited area, meaning there should be zero construction there," he said.

Suwandi said Bingin and Padang-Padang were supporting areas in the South Kuta district.

"The steep cliffs there have been deemed unsafe to build on, with the possibility of a landslide," Suwandi said.

However, locals at Bingin refuse to admit the cottages were built without permits.

Gusti, who works at one of the cliff-side cottages, said all the cottages had received permits from the village heads.

"We pay monthly fees to the village leaders," he said.

Gusti said the land at Bingin was customary land owned by village heads.

"I do not know whether the village leaders forwarded the official paperwork to the regency administration or not," he said.

Gusti said the cottages were mostly rented by surfers.

"The cottages are also a source of income for the local people here. If they don't work at the cottages, they would have to work in their fields," he said.

Suwandi said the situation was a dilemma for the regency administration.

"The cottages have long been there and have fed the people. So, we need to be really careful about what action we take," he said.

"If it is a good place for tourism to be developed, we should develop it. But, with proper planning."

The regency administration, he said, had spoken to village leaders and is currently looking into whether it is possible to establish Bingin as a tourism location.

"We have yet to come to a final decision," Suwandi said.

Meanwhile, as officials conduct their research, laborers in Bingin are diligently working on a new cottage and gardeners are planting tropical plants at another; all in an area where construction is allegedly prohibited.

W. Jakarta destroys illegal buildings

JAKARTA (The Jakarta Post): The West Jakarta building supervision agency on Tuesday bulldozed several three-story shop-houses being constructed in Tambora district because the owners did not have the necessary building permits.

"People cannot just put up a building without building permits from the agency," agency head Djangga Lubis said.

He said the agency issued three warning letters to halt the construction, before issuing the demolition order.

Purnomo, one of the owners of the eight demolished shop-houses, said he applied for a building permit more than a month ago.

"I applied for the building permit and I am still waiting for the paper," he said.

He said he had already invested a great deal of money in the now-demolished shop-house.

"As soon I get a permit, I will rebuild the house," he said.

Lubis said an applicant could obtain a residential building permit within 10 days and a commercial-use building permit within 14 days, provided they had all the necessary documents, including land certificate and building and land tax receipts. -- JP

Jakarta plans to evict more squatters near railways, dam

Mustaqim Adamrah, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The government and the Jakarta administration are planning to dismantle more than 15,000 shanties around railways and the Pluit dam in North Jakarta.

State-owned railway operator PT Kereta Api said Friday illegal properties around railways had disturbed its operations.

"We'll be dismantling approximately 5,220 illegal properties around railways in December, in line with the reviving of circle-line train operations," said the company's public relations head for operation district I, Akhmad Sujadi.

"The company and the city administration will work jointly every day on the evictions. Hopefully, all circle-line tracks will be cleared of shanties by the end of the year."

He said squatters occupied spaces alongside circle-line tracks because those spaces had gone unused for two decades due to low demand.

PT Kereta Api removed 120 shanties around Senen train station and Kemayoran train station, both in Central Jakarta, on Thursday, a day before the circle-line train was launched.

The company also dismantled 660 shanties around Gaplok traditional market in Central Jakarta in January this year, said Akhmad.

The circle-line train runs through five municipalities, beginning at Manggarai train station in South Jakarta and stopping at nine other stations.

The Jakarta Public Works Agency said it would "relocate" squatters currently living in the 10,000 shanties around Pluit dam in North Jakarta next year.

"The squatters around Pluit dam have been littering and clogging the dam," said the agency's water resources and coast development division head, I Gde Nyoman Soeandhi.

"The agency wants to relocate all 70,000 squatters living around dams and riverbanks next year because they have disturbed water flow. But we have a limited budget."

The implementation of the relocation plans, he said, would be the North Jakarta mayor's responsibility.

In response to future mass evictions, Urban Poor Consortium director Wardah Hafidz said both the government and the administration had breached the Habitat II Convention signed in Istanbul, Turkey, in 1996, and the Economic and Social Rights Convention, which Indonesia ratified.

The conventions, she said, prohibited governments from evicting squatters before providing them with "beneficial alternatives".

"What often happens is that either the government or the administration evicts squatters and leaves them with more miserable lives," said Wardah.

"Those evicted often are not able to reach the same social and economic levels they once had. They can't afford low-cost apartments either."

Such apartments, she said, were priced between Rp 90,000 (US$9.60) and Rp 190,000 a month, excluding water and electricity.