•    HOME   
•    NEWS   
•    BUSINESS   
•    INTERNATIONAL   
•    TECH   
•    SPORTS   
•    LIFE & TIMES   
•    OPINION   
•    MY JAKARTA   
•    BLOGS   

House of Representatives Speaker Marzuki Alie on Monday confirmed that plans to build a new office building for legislators had been put on hold pending negotiations to acquire more land.

The new building, which will cost about Rp 1.8 trillion ($198 million), sparked widespread criticism when first proposed this year for its price tag. Lawmakers justified the expense by saying their current office building’s foundations were sinking and it had cracks in the walls.

The House leadership previously planned to hold the construction tender in June.

“We can’t hold the tender yet because the plan hasn’t been finalized yet,” Marzuki said, adding the delay was due to new calls to design green areas around the legislative complex.

He said this would require an integrated blueprint for the House, the Regional Representatives Council (DPD) and the People’s Consultative Assembly (MPR), stretching up to Taman Ria Senayan on the periphery of the existing site.

Marzuki said the heads of all three bodies had met with Jakarta Governor Fauzi Bowo and the private developer responsible for Taman Ria to discuss the issue.

“We’ve also consulted with State Secretary Sudi Silalahi,” he added. “We’re very committed to taking over Taman Ria from its developer.”

According to Marzuki, the design for the new building can only be finalized once the acquisition of Taman Ria is complete. “It’s going to push back the construction schedule, but I don’t believe the lawmakers will mind if we don’t start building the new offices this year,” he said.

Separately, Marzuki pledged the House’s support for government action to renegotiate low-yield contracts with businesses operating in the lucrative Gelora Bung Karno area in Senayan.

Last month, a House committee argued that the state assets, reportedly worth more than Rp 51 trillion, were poorly managed and only raised Rp 15 billion in revenue for the state each year.

“We hope that in the renegotiated contracts, there is a proportionality clause that assigns the majority of the benefits to the state,” Marzuki said.

Legislator Chairuman Harahap, chairman of the committee probing the state assets issue, said the House leadership’s commitment to the cause was a step in the right direction. “At our next hearing, we’ll meet with the private contractors operating the assets in question and seek to clarify the issue,” he said.

The committee, which is investigating 44 troubled build-operate-transfer contracts on government land in Gelora Bung Karno and Kemayoran, Central Jakarta, previously claimed that a “mafia group” was trying to seize assets in the complexes.

Under the deals, private contractors have leases of up to 40 years to develop and operate businesses on government-owned land, before turning the property over to the government at the end of the term.