Thousand Islands Regent Admits Private Parties Use Helipads On Long Island Without Paying Retribution

Thousand Islands Regent Junaedi/PHOTO: Diah Ayu-VOI

JAKARTA - Thousand Islands Regent Junaedi acknowledged that the helicopter pad or helipad on Panjang Island, Seribu Islands is often used by the private sector. This helicopter was previously considered illegal by the chairman of the DKI Jakarta DPRD.

Junaedi said the private party used a helipad for vacation purposes and visited a privately owned island in the Thousand Islands.

"There are, there are those who like to land there (helipads) on Panjang Island. The private sector uses a lot. I don't control it," Junaedi said when met on Pramuka Island, Seribu Islands, Thursday, June 30.

In fact, Junaedi said that so far there has been no retribution to the DKI Provincial Government for the use of the helipad. The pretext is that there are no regulations that oblige the collection of helipad levies on Panjang Island.

"There is no retribution rule. Many ships are still free, especially helicopters which are rare, maybe once a month, twice," said Junaedi.

Junaedi explained that the helipad was originally built by the former regent of the Thousand Islands, Abdul Rachman Andit in 2005 with the aim of building a tourist destination on Pulau Panjang.

However, in 2010, the Supreme Audit Agency (BPK) found that the assets in Pulau Panjang were in trouble. Until now, the field which was originally planned to be built for the airport has been neglected.

Meanwhile, the helipad there was only repainted by the local government. The goal, said Junaedi, is simply to attract tourists to visit the Thousand Islands.

"It's the regent's job to create new tourist destinations. Because Pulau Seribu is a tourist destination that is an asset of the regional government. If it's not beautified, who will come," he said.

Previously, the Chairman of the DKI Jakarta DPRD, Prasetyo Edi Marsudi, carried out an impromptu inspection (sidak) to Panjang Island, Seribu Islands. This inspection was carried out after receiving reports from Jakarta residents that there was a helicopter pad or helipad on the island.

When he arrived at Panjang Island, Prasetyo found a helipad inside the island, which is located in Kelapa Island Village, North Thousand Islands District.

Based on information received by Prasetyo, this helipad was built and used by a private party. However, it turns out that this utilization was not recorded by the DKI Provincial Government.

"I came to Pulau Panjang for inspection purposes. I found out that one of them has a helipad that is being used by a private party. If we don't come here, where can we have a helipad. How come there is a Helipad in DKI assets, but we don't report it to us. illegal helipads, stealth helipads," said Prasetyo.

Prasetyo said that there should be a permit application to the DKI Provincial Government for the use of this government-owned land or asset. Parties who use these assets must also pay a levy which will go into the regional treasury.

"If the helipad is official, every time it lands it gives income to the provincial government, right. But so far it hasn't. He doesn't report transparently that there is land use in it," said Prasetyo.