Thugs hired for land appropriation<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): A property dispute turned ugly over the weekend
\nwhen dozens of men, reportedly hired by PT Technodev Inti Utama,
\na law consultant claiming to represent state-owned Bank Dagang
\nNegara (BDN), attacked a building at Jl. Agus Salim 24, Central
\nJakarta.<\/p>\n
Witnesses said that thugs, armed with hammers, stormed the
\ntwo-story building where a number of corporations have their
\noffices, including the Kiblat weekly, on Friday evening. They
\nsmashed down the doors and shattered windows in the building.<\/p>\n
"We initially tried to defend ourselves but the thugs are more
\npowerful than us," said Hadi Mujiono, a reporter of Kiblat, an
\nIslamic journal with a circulation of 20,000.<\/p>\n
City Police spokesman Lt. Col. A. Latief Rabar confirmed on
\nSaturday that the Central Jakarta police precinct have asked the
\nconflicting parties to settle the dispute through negotiations.<\/p>\n
"The situation at that time was so tense and could have led to
\nbloodshed if we had not gotten there," Latief said, adding that
\nreligious and ethnic sentiments had helped worsen the dispute.<\/p>\n
The Kiblat Publisher Foundation said in a statement on
\nSaturday that the attack was a part of a larger dispute involving
\nthe Kiblat Publisher Foundation, Technodev, BDN, the Indonesian
\nHaj Pilgrimage Foundation and the Ya Bunayya Foundation.<\/p>\n
The Ya Bunayya Foundation and the Kiblat Publisher Foundation
\nare the joint publishers of Kiblat and Adzan magazines.<\/p>\n
Ahmad Rofi' Usmani, the chairman of the Kiblat Publisher
\nFoundation, said that the Indonesian Haj Pilgrimage Foundation
\nillegally sold the land and the building to Technodev.<\/p>\n
"They did not discuss it with either Ya Bunayya or Kiblat,"
\nUsmani said, adding that based on the land sale documents, the
\nCentral Jakarta mayoralty administration issued a decree on Aug.
\n22, which permits Technodev to take over the land.<\/p>\n
"They have repeatedly tried to take possession of the building
\nby force since Aug. 22, but always failed due to fierce
\nresistance from Kiblat reporters," he said.<\/p>\n
The PT Technodev management could not be reached for comment.<\/p>\n
According to Usmani, the building which was constructed in the
\n1970s, belongs to the readers of Kiblat, who donated funds to
\nfinance its development.<\/p>\n
Usmani said that the other companies now occupying the
\nbuilding had also sent a letter to the Central Jakarta police,
\nasking them to protect them.<\/p>\n
The signatories of the letter, of which a copy was faxed to
\nThe Jakarta Post, include the Ya Bunayya Foundation, the
\nmanagement of Kiblat weekly, PT Yala Teknosa, PT Al-Amin Sarana
\nKreasi, PT Bunayya Media and PT Mafhabor Indonesia.<\/p>\n
According to Hadi, PT Yala Teknosa is a subsidiary of the
\nCitra Lamtoro Gung business group, which is controlled by Siti
\nHadiyanti Rukmana, the eldest daughter of President Soeharto.
\n(09)<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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