'Antara' warned over construction work
'Antara' warned over construction work
JAKARTA (JP): The city museum and restoration agency has
reprimanded executives of Antara news agency for the sloppy
redevelopment of its old building that has partly cracked the
existing buildings in the front of the block.
Head of the agency's program division, Indro Kusumo, said on
Friday that his office sent a letter to the city's Building
Control Agency two weeks ago urging it to pay greater attention
toward the ongoing construction work at the back part of the
protected Antara buildings on Jl. Antara in Central Jakarta as it
has damaged the three adjoining buildings.
"The construction has also breached our recommendation, which
allowed them to construct a building with a maximum height of two
stories, instead of four as what they are currently doing," Indro
told The Jakarta Post.
According to Indro, the cracks in the existing buildings, also
operated by Antara for its photo gallery, resulted from the
powerful hammering of the concrete piles for the foundation of
the project.
"Cracks have been found at several parts of the protected
buildings which could damage them later," he said.
The state news agency currently occupies two separate
buildings on the street, both of which are protected under the
1993 Gubernatorial Decree No 475 regarding old buildings in the
capital.
The first one was the colonial-style building which has a
clock tower on its top. The other is the three adjoining
buildings, which have been affected by the ongoing construction
work at the back.
The news agency's management had demolished the annexed
building at the back and planned to construct a separate four
stories building for the agency's office.
Antara chief editor Parni Hadi once claimed that the
demolition violated no regulation and the building that had been
demolished was not protected.
The agency's secretary Kardiman Soekardi recently said that
the construction was based on the official recommendation issued
by the city's Building Control Agency even though it's only for a
two-story structure.
"But the recommendation also states that we can build a
maximum four stories at the site. So we decided to make use of
the recommendation," he said.
Contacted separately, head of the agency Hartanto strongly
supported the construction, saying that no violations had been
found in the work so far.
He also strongly denied that the museum and restoration agency
had sent a letter to his office about violation on the
construction works.
"We haven't received such a letter," he said. (ind)