118 former servicemen to sue Air Force chief

118 former servicemen to sue Air Force chief

JAKARTA (JP): As many as 118 former Air Force members living
in the Halim Perdanakusuma housing complex in East Jakarta will
sue the Air Force chief over an order to leave the houses.

The residents, all former Air Force servicemen, yesterday gave
authority to the Jakarta Legal Aid Institute (LBH) to file a
lawsuit against the Air Force chief with the East Jakarta
District Court.

Spokesman for the residents, Suhartono said that they could
not accept the order to vacate the houses without compensation.

The Air Force plans to use the houses for active servicemen.

The residents claimed that the houses were constructed with
their money in 1967.

"The Air Force did not give us retirement pay when we retired,
because the money was used to finance the construction of the
houses," he said.

According to regulations, each serviceman gets retirement pay
upon retiring.

Suhartono said in 1967 the amount was Rp 75,000 for each
serviceman. At the time, the land price was Rp 100 per square
meter, so that Rp 75,000 was enough to pay for land and a 36-
square-meter house, he added.

The residents demanded yesterday that the Air Force give them
the houses or pay each family Rp 300 million in compensation for
moving.

They said Rp 300 million today is the equivalent of the Rp
75,000 in retirement pay they should have received in 1967.

Another resident, Satijo Widodoho, said that the residents
would not move from the housing complex pending the court's final
decision.

He said the residents had earlier filed a lawsuit but the
court dropped it for being incomplete.

"We hope LBH will arrange a complete lawsuit so that the court
can process it soon," he said.

Luhut M.P. Pangaribuan of the legal institute promised to
arrange the residents' lawsuit and file it with the court as soon
as possible. (29)