Century-old nursing home attacked<\/p>\n
Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The peace of 71 people in their twilight years was shattered
\nafter a group of hired thugs smashed their way through a wall of
\ntheir historic nursing home in Central Jakarta on Thursday.<\/p>\n
\"The elderly are extremely distressed. We are in a state of
\npanic, not only because of the attack, but mainly because most of
\nthe residents are ill, including with heart problems. Several
\ncannot even get out of bed,\" a staff member from Pniel retirement
\nhome in Jl. K.H. Samanhudi, Central Jakarta, said.<\/p>\n
The home, established in 1903, is at the center of a legal
\ndispute over the ownership of the building and the valuable 7,000
\nsquare meter plot of land.<\/p>\n
Dozens of men attacked the building on Thursday, smashing a
\nhole three-meters wide in a wall near a room where the women
\nsleep.<\/p>\n
Police were called but no arrests were made.<\/p>\n
Staff could only calm the residents, the eldest being 96 years
\nof age, by forming a group circle and praying.<\/p>\n
The group of men were still at the nursing home at around
\n10:30 p.m. last night. Two police officers were guarding the
\nproperty.<\/p>\n
Nursing home director Stien Hitipeuw said the property was
\nillegally sold in 1993 by the West Indonesia Protestant Church
\n(GPIB) synod to the now defunct Bank Tata without the consent of
\nthe congregation.<\/p>\n
\"The congregation sued the synod council over the sale of the
\nproperty. The court verdict is in our favor, but now the case has
\nbeen taken to the Supreme Court,\" she told The Jakarta Post on
\nFriday.<\/p>\n
The asset has now been acquired by Bank Artha Graha,
\ncontrolled by controversial businessman Tommy Winata, following
\nthe collapse of Bank Tata during the financial crisis that hit in
\n1997.<\/p>\n
It is unclear who ordered the attack.<\/p>\n
The bank could not be contacted last night.<\/p>\n
The property, Hitipeuw said, was given by the Dutch colonial
\ngovernment to the synod in 1903, who later passed it to the
\ncongregation of GPIB Pniel to manage in the interests of the
\ncommunity.<\/p>\n
\"As there is yet to be a final decision from the Court on the
\nfate of the elderly here, why did those thugs attack us? Don't
\nthey respect the law, or the elderly in the very least? If they
\ndemolished the nursing home, where would they go?\"<\/p>\n
Hitipeuw said the residents were mostly widows and widowers.
\nOthers had no relatives at all.<\/p>\n
After the property was illegally sold in 1993, the church and
\nthe synod stopped funding, forcing the administrators to form a
\nfoundation able to seek donors from the community.<\/p>\n
\"No wonder people want them to disappear, because, as we know,
\neach square meter of land in this business district is worth at
\nleast Rp 10 million (US$1,204),\" a resident told the Post.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/century-old-nursing-home-attacked-1447893297",
"image": ""
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