Home Shortage, Mataram City Government Wants Agricultural Land Resilience For Housing

One of the locations for land conversion in Mataram City, West Nusa Tenggara Province, occurred in line with the development of the population. (ANTARA)

The City Government (Pemkot) of Mataram, West Nusa Tenggara Province, proposed to the central government for the utilization of Sustainable Food Agricultural Lands (LP2B) to be given more widely, including meeting home shortages in the area. "We have proposed to the central government to be granted the flexibility of utilization of using LP2B based on the growing and need of residents in Mataram which continues to increase, including for housing," said Mataram Mayor Mohan Roliskana, quoted by ANTARA, Thursday, February 23. The statement was conveyed by him in response to the latest 2016-2021 data on home shortages in Mataram of around 16,000 units. Indications of houses in Mataram City are currently occupied by more than one family, while ideally one house is occupied by one family. Related to that, he hopes, the proposal can be the government's attention, because nearly 54 percent of the 61.3 square kilometers of urban areas are settlements, 17 percent for private and government sectors, while the rest green open spaces (RTH) include agricultural land. "That basis, we ask for concessions to be able to satisfy the shortcomings of houses in Mataram, one of which is by utilizing LP2B," he said. He also assessed one solution to reduce the shortage of houses in Mataram by building a vertical house or simple flat (rusunawa) that becomes a government program. "It's just that our community has not been able to adapt to the pattern of residence so that it prefers to stay together in existing landed houses," he said. In addition, the shortage of houses in Mataram is also overcome through the help of housing developers by building houses in buffer areas, such as the northern and southern Lombok Regency, which is an alternative for Mataram City residents to own a home. Currently, quite a number of Mataram City residents live in the buffer area of the city, although every day they are active in Mataram City.

This condition is the attention of the city government, especially to increase the safety and comfort of traffic at a certain time, especially in the northern and southern border lines.