Bakrie developer says sorry about school demolition

Bakrie developer says sorry about school demolition

JAKARTA (JP): The management of PT Catur Swasakti Utama (CSU),
the developer of the Taman Rasuna apartments in Kuningan, South
Jakarta, said yesterday they regretted demolishing a primary
school building to make way for construction.

"It was merely a safety first decision," Tagor Lumbanraja, an
executive of CSU, said in a press conference at the City Council
yesterday.

Tagor said that rather than endangering the children, CSU
preferred to build temporary classrooms and demolish the aging
school, which stood on the 3.7 hectare site where the apartment
complex is being built.

He admitted that his company has made the mistake of pulling
down the old school building without asking for an official
permit first.

The City Council summoned and asked executives of CSU to
clarify the matter following reports that CSU had illegally
appropriated state-owned property, including the school building
and an unoccupied 6,000-square-meter shelter on Aug. 11.

CSU is 100 percent controlled by Bakrie Investindo, a holding
corporation of the Bakrie business group, whose major shareholder
is Aburizal Bakrie, the chairman of the Indonesian Chamber of
Commerce and Industry (Kadin).

It was reported earlier that Kurniasih, the school
headmistress, had said that the temporary classrooms had to be
abandoned because the project produced thick dust and noise,
posing serious health and psychological problems to the pupils.

She later transferred her 334 students from the classrooms CSU
had provided to two other schools located nearby which have fewer
students and safer surroundings.

Tagor claimed that the physical condition of the buildings was
such that they might have tumbled down anytime, particularly when
the workers starting to drive piles for the apartments with heavy
equipment.

Councilor Sutarno, who chaired the meeting, said that the
council could understand such a decision, adding that CSU has
agreed to construct better school buildings within its 4,000-unit
apartment complex.

"We're glad to inform you that we've been able to settle the
matter peacefully," he added.

Prominent officials of Bakrie Group, which include Iwan
Hendradi Djarot, an executive of Bakrie Investindo, Teddy
Sudiman, the president of CSU, and Siddharta Moersjid, the public
relations manager for the group, also attended the two-hour
meeting.

Complaints

Togar and Sutarno said they are still waiting for the
municipal administration to make a decision as to whether it is a
must for CSU to remove the crushing and mixing plant it has set
up at the construction site to facilitate the project.

School teachers and councilors earlier complained about the
location of the plant, which crushes and mixes stones and cement.
The plant, which they complained produces a huge amount of dust,
is located only 20 meters from the temporary classrooms.

An official of the city administration said it plans to
investigate reports on the demolition.

Moersjid said that it will take CSU one to two years to
complete the new school buildings, adding that the apartment
complex will have seven primary schools and several high schools.

He said that the marketing objective of the Taman Rasuna
apartments is young and middle class executives. "More than 90
percent of the units have been sold. It is not intended to be a
posh area," he said, denying reports, which alleged that Bakrie
is sacrificing school children for over-privileged Jakartans.

He said that the monthly salaries of the young executives, who
had studied abroad and were used to living in apartments, range
from Rp 2 million (US$950) to Rp 3 million. (09)