Callistasia Anggun Wijaya – Jakarta Governor Basuki "Ahok" Tjahaja Purnama has said that his administration failed to monitor and halt the construction of buildings by PT Kapuk Naga Indah (KNI) on a reclaimed islet, stressing that the buildings were constructed illegally.
"We never issue any permits [for the construction]. Our officers failed. How could they not know there are high buildings there?" Ahok said on Tuesday, referring to the construction of buildings on islet C by KNI, a subsidiary of the Agung Sedayu Group.
On the request of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK), the immigration office issued a travel ban for Agung Sedayu chairman Aguan Sugianto on Sunday following the arrest of Jakarta councillor Mohamad Sanusi from the Gerindra Party and the surrender of president director Ariesman Widjaja to the anticorruption body.
Sanusi has been accused of accepting a bribe from Agung Podomoro Land in connection with the deliberation of draft reclamation bills by the Jakarta City Council.
Ahok blamed the Jakarta Spatial Planning Agency and the Jakarta City Building Supervision Agency (P2B) for failing to monitor and stop construction on the islet. The agencies should have ordered KNI to halt construction until it obtained the necessary permits, Ahok said.
Meanwhile, spatial planning agency head Iswan Achmadi held a press conference in which he denied the alleged negligence "The monitoring was not thorough, but we didn't miss it. We continuously monitored on the field," Iswan said.
Iswan claims that the agency issued a warning letter to KNI in regard to sealing the buildings and ordered the company to tear them down.
The city plans to develop 17 islets in Jakarta Bay through the reclamation programs. Agung Podomoro Land and Agung Sedayu Group are among companies that have obtained permits from the city to carry out the reclamation program. (bbn)