Developer told to keep word on facilities<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Residents of Pondok Pinang subdistrict in South
\nJakarta complained to the City Council on Wednesday that PT
\nMetropolitan Kencana, the developing of the Pondok Indah luxury
\nhousing complex had not given them the social facilities it
\npledged 20 years ago.<\/p>\n
Ten of their representatives, who were received by members of
\nthe United Development Party (PPP) faction, said they could no
\nlonger be patient as struggled for their rights for a long time.<\/p>\n
About 10,000 local families were evicted from a 450-hectare
\nplot of land in 1971 and 1972 to make way for the development of
\nthe Pondok Indah housing complex by Metropolitan Kencana, a joint
\nventure company owned by, among others, business tycoons Sudono
\nSalim, Sudwikatmono, Ciputra and Budi Brasali.<\/p>\n
Junaidi Abdillah, the head of the Pondok Pinang social
\nactivities group, said that the 450 hectares of land also
\nincluded seven hectares belonging to local residents.<\/p>\n
The seven-hectare plot was given by the residents to the
\ndeveloper in the hope that the latter would compensate them by
\nbuilding social facilities like a mosque and school buildings,
\nJunaidi said.<\/p>\n
He admitted the company had developed a mosque, an elementary
\nand junior and senior high school buildings in separate locations
\ncovering a total area of five hectares, he said.<\/p>\n
\"But the company later submitted the facilities to the Pondok
\nMulia foundation, which is chaired by Sudwikatmono, instead of
\nhanding them over to the residents.<\/p>\n
\"The company never fulfills its obligation. It is just a
\ncapital transfer inside the company,\" Junaidi said.<\/p>\n
He said the residents started to struggle for their rights in
\n1978, by sending complaints to the city governor, the developer
\nand City Council and the former Ministry of People's Housing, he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
The last complaint was made on June 29. \"However, none of the
\ncomplaints have been acted on. We don't know which institutions
\nare willing to listen to our complaints. We are a weak party who
\nis facing a giant business group,\" he said.<\/p>\n
During the meeting with the PPP faction members, the
\nrepresentatives also threatened to demolish Metropolitan
\nKencana's office as the firm had continuously ignored their
\ndemands.<\/p>\n
\"A plan to destroy the building has frequently been discussed
\nby the people, especially the youths.<\/p>\n
\"But, we were able to prevent them from doing so by telling
\nthem that their acts would not only hurt the company but Pondok
\nPinang residents as well. But I am afraid that this will prevent
\nthe destruction much longer if the developer does not soon
\nfulfill its promise,\" said Zein Mudjid, one of local youth
\nactivists.<\/p>\n
\"We will fight for our rights till the end of our lives,\" said
\na local Islamic teacher, Marzuki Halim, in a trembling voice.<\/p>\n
The head of the PPP faction, Achmad Suaidy, promised to help
\nsettle the case by inviting the management of Metropolitan
\nKencana to ask for clarification as soon as possible. (ind)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/developer-told-to-keep-word-on-facilities-1447893297",
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