The Indonesian Minister of State-Owned Enterprises (BUMN), Erick Thohir, has expressed his support for PT Bank Tabungan Negara (BTN) in its efforts to protect citizens from irresponsible practices by developers and notaries in the property sector. These issues have been affecting the completion of certificates for homebuyers, hindering their legal ownership rights.

In a recent press conference, Thohir emphasized the importance of accelerating the completion of property certificates. He urged BTN to improve its system and apply good corporate governance (GCG) to support the government's "Three Million Houses" program, which aims to address the country's housing needs.

Thohir commended BTN for taking steps to correct its system and emphasized its role in the housing program, which involves providing 82% of the subsidized housing. He also suggested that problematic developers and notaries should be blacklisted to ensure the protection of citizens' rights. Thohir called on other banks in the state-owned bank association (Himbara) to share data to ensure that the people's rights are fully protected.

The "Three Million Houses" program, which involves various stakeholders, including private sector players, aims to simplify housing procedures and expedite certification. Thohir also urged for greater data transparency to identify developers who meet government standards for housing projects.

Meanwhile, BTN’s president director, Nixon LP Napitupulu, highlighted ongoing challenges in the housing sector, particularly the issue of developers with certificates that fall under the "Out of Tolerance Threshold" (LAT) category. Developers in this category are those who fail to meet the deadline for completing property documentation, which is crucial for homebuyers who have paid off their mortgages.

Since 2019, BTN has resolved 80,000 property certificates in collaboration with the National Land Agency (BPN) to speed up the process. In addition to this, BTN has introduced measures to improve the rating and profiling of developers, from Platinum to non-rated categories. Non-rated developers will no longer receive priority for housing loans or the Kredit Yasa Griya program.

BTN also aims to resolve 15,000 LAT certificates out of 38,144 by the end of the year. Developers with problematic certificates will have their partnerships with BTN terminated, and the list of these developers will be shared with BP Tapera to ensure they are excluded from future subsidized mortgage programs.

Moreover, BTN is focusing on addressing issues with notaries involved in the certification process by profiling and rating them. The bank plans to implement Service Level Agreements (SLA) to ensure timely completion of certificates, with the threshold for resolution set at three months. If the SLA is not met, BTN will take further action to freeze the process.

PHOTO: VOI