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Vice President Jusuf Kalla called on local administrations
Tuesday to do their best to expedite a number of turnpike projects with
a total length of 1,951 kilometers that had suffered from years of
delay, mainly due to land acquisition problems.
He stressed that governors, mayors and regents should adopt a firm
approach to securing land designated for the expressway projects in
order to prevent land speculation that could lead to project-cost
inflation and uncertainty for investors.
"Surely, we must be able to come to a win-win solution that respects
the interests of the landowners," he said in his opening address to a
meeting on turnpike projects attended by local government
representatives. The meeting was organized by the Public Works Ministry.
He stressed that a firm approach was needed by local administrations if
the projects were to come onstream as scheduled by 2009.
"The projects must be finished simultaneously, including the Trans
Java, Trans Kalimantan and Trans Sulawesi projects," he insisted.
He said that the participation of regional administrations was
essential as the projects would support local economic growth and
overcome bottlenecks in the distribution of goods due to inadequate
infrastructure -- something that had made the cost of doing business in
Indonesia more expensive than it would otherwise be.
To improve the country's woefully deficient infrastructure, Kalla has
ordered the Public Works Ministry to coordinate the construction of the
turnpikes, which it is estimated will cost some Rp 129 trillion
(US$14.3 billion)
However, many of the projects have been delayed due to problems related
to land acquisition
Investors have to deal with not only widespread protests and opposition
from landowners, mainly resulting from land price disputes instigated
by speculators, but also uncertainty as regards project deadlines.
With the government apparently helpless to deal with these problems,
foreign investors appear to have lost interest in the country's
infrastructure sector.
In response to these difficulties, the acting public works minister,
Hatta Radjasa, has proposed a scheme under which the central government
delegates power to local administrations to facilitate land acquisition
in two ways -- land capping and land freezing.
Land capping, he explained, would allow local governors to provide
funds to help finance land acquisition in case costs increased from
their initially agreed levels. He added that the money would be taken
out of local budgets.
In the case of land freezing, local governments would be given full
power to secure land designated for turnpike projects within their
jurisdictions, he said.
"We also plan to establish committees made up of local administration
officials, which will be responsible for monitoring the land
acquisition process," he said.
The Public Works Ministry's director general for infrastructure
development, Hendrianto Notosoegondo, has proposed a mechanism under
which such committees would strove to ensure that the land acquisition
process is completed within not more than 14 months.
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