City plans to raze school for blind<\/p>\n
M. Taufiqurrahman, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
An internationally acclaimed training center for the blind in
\nEast Jakarta, may soon be demolished by the city administration
\nto make way for the expansion of a city-owned hospital.<\/p>\n
Panti Taman Harapan's spokesperson, Rojiin Faqih, said on
\nFriday that the center would be relocated to Cengkareng area,
\nWest Jakarta.<\/p>\n
\"The Budhi Asih Hospital management is going to provide more
\nwards for its upmarket patients,\" he told The Jakarta Post.<\/p>\n
The 2,911-square-meter Panti Taman Harapan is located at the
\nback of the hospital in Cawang, East Jakarta.<\/p>\n
Faqih said that two orphanages had already been demolished by
\nthe city administration for the expansion of the hospital. A
\nbanner hanging at the front of the hospital states that the
\norphanages have been moved to Tebet, South Jakarta.<\/p>\n
The city administration had earlier issued an order for Panti
\nTaman Harapan to be vacated by Nov. 3, 2002, but due to steadfast
\nresistance, the planned eviction was postponed until 2005.<\/p>\n
But despite the postponement, Faqih suspects that a plan is
\nafoot to vacate the center earlier.<\/p>\n
\"After the Jakarta Social Affairs Agency delayed the plan, the
\ncenter management stopped receiving new students. We're afraid
\nthat eventually there will be no more new students, so the agency
\ncould do anything before 2005,\" he said.<\/p>\n
He added that several people on the centers managing
\ncommittee, and teachers who had opposed the plan, had been
\nthreatened to comply.<\/p>\n
Panti Taman Harapan, established during the Dutch colonial era
\nin the early 1900s, was formerly owned by the Ministry of Social
\nAffairs. The city administration took over its management with
\nthe regional autonomy policy in 2000.<\/p>\n
The center provides blind people with education, and training
\nin a variety of skills. Currently, over 40 people spend most of
\nthe day there.<\/p>\n
Tubagus Haryo Karbyantoro of Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH
\nJakarta), who provides advocacy to the opponents of the
\nrelocation plan, said relocating the center to Cengkareng would
\nonly cause its regulars a myriad of problems.<\/p>\n
He said that the new location was not suitable. Furthermore,
\nthe blind students, and other regular visitors to the center,
\nwere well liked among their current neighborhood.<\/p>\n
Contacted separately, head of the Spiritual Development and
\nSocial Welfare Agency (Bintalkesos) Syarifudin Mahfud gave a
\ncontradictory statement to the city administration's move. He
\nsaid there was no plan to relocate Panti Taman Harapan.<\/p>\n
\"We want to move students from the center for the blind in
\nCengkareng to Cawang instead,\" he told the Post.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/city-plans-to-raze-school-for-blind-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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