"The Minister of Housing stated that Meikarta will be developed into a vertical housing complex for low-income communities. This is a new hope," said Dedi after a meeting with Maruarar and the developer association at the Pakuan Building in Bandung, West Java, on Thursday.
While adding to Maruarar Sirait's statement, who was explaining the results of today's meeting, namely the encouragement of vertical housing development, Dedi jokingly said that in Meikarta, vertical apartment housing must be built that is intended for the lower-middle class.
"Apartments, sir. Apartments are for the lower middle class. Flats aren't available, sir. If they are, apartments are available, okay," said Dedi.
In Meikarta, where several apartment tower units have been built, Dedi said the facilities are just waiting to be filled, and he hopes they can be implemented soon, as one way to save the area from land conversion.
Dedi revealed that from an area of around 20 hectares, currently projected there will be 94,000-100,000 apartment units with a capacity of three people per unit, which could save tens of thousands of hectares of land from conversion.
"Meikarta is already built, and now it just needs to be filled. And the roads are wide. And imagine if Meikarta could accommodate 100,000 people, then we could probably save almost 50,000 hectares of rice fields there," he said.
Regarding the case that has entangled Meikarta, Dedi said that the case was about bribery, not the assets and development, so according to him, it would not be a problem.
"The Meikarta corruption case involved bribery, not the construction itself. The Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) has already stated that it was appropriate and not against the law," he said.
