Basketball hall must be integrated with mall: Sutiyoso

JAKARTA (JP): Governor Sutiyoso threatened on Wednesday to demolish the Senayan Sport and Trade Center (STC), now under construction, if the developer failed to abide by its promise to build an indoor basketball hall inside the center.

He suggested that the developer, identified only by the initials PT KIMS, build the basketball hall in accordance with the original plan if it wanted to avoid further losses as the city government would punish it if it failed to do so.

"They won't suffer any losses if they build the basketball hall inside the center, will they? The city will certainly demolish the mall if the developer fails to build the basketball hall in accordance with their proposal," the governor argued.

Sutiyoso was commenting on reports that the developer was not building the center in line with the original proposal. The company is reportedly building the basketball hall separately, next to the center which will function as a mall.

Sutiyoso said that the developer should stick to the initial plan to build the hall inside the center.

"Based on their proposal, the basketball hall should be inside the center. The developer cannot build it separately," he told reporters at City Hall.

Meanwhile, a senior city official revealed on Wednesday that, according to the developer's proposal, the basketball hall would be built on the top of the seven-story center.

The official, who asked not to be identified, said the developer, PT KIMS, which was partly owned by a daughter of former Minister of Justice and State Minister/State Secretary Muladi, might had changed the mall's plans so that they no longer included the basketball hall.

"There is no basket hall in the mall's plans. If they now say they are going to build it, then maybe they have drawn up a new design just recently," the official said.

The official said that the developer used the name Wisma Basketball (Basketball Center) just to secure a building permit given the fact that Sutiyoso was also the chairman of the Indonesian Basketball Association (Perbasi).

The official speculated that the developer might also have used Muladi's influence to secure the permit since Senayan's Bung Karno sports complex and the surrounding areas where the mall was being built were under the supervision of the State Secretariat.

Separately, Muladi said his daughter Erlina Kumula Esti was not involved with the mall developer, although her husband Fayakun Andriyadi was.

"My son-in-law is only a minor shareholder in the company. He has the smallest shareholding," Muladi told The Jakarta Post by telephone on Wednesday.

He also denied any involvement in the obtaining of the building permit from the city administration, saying that he was no longer a minister when the developer obtained the permit last year.

He revealed that the mall's construction started in November last year, while his term of office as a minister ended in September two years ago.

"I'm shocked by the newspaper reports. I've always told my daughters and family members not to link their businesses with my position, and for them to run their businesses in accordance with the regulations," Muladi, who is also a former rector of Diponegoro University in Semarang, Central Java, claimed.

He said, quoting his son-in-law, that the developer would build a large and luxurious basketball hall inside the mall, which was located near the upmarket Plaza Senayan.

Governor Sutiyoso also urged the developer to set aside about 10 percent of the site for small-scale traders in the city as specified by a city bylaw.

"We will demand that the developer provide 10 percent of the space for small traders," he said.

An employee of the developer said on Tuesday that the mall would be an exclusive 0.5-hectare super block, and that it has been marketed to top businessmen.

"None of the space in the super block has been allocated to small traders. It's an exclusive center," the employee said.

Several city councillors have also questioned the legality of the mall's location as it is reportedly sited in a green area.

Commenting on the issue, Sutiyoso said on Tuesday that the status of the land around Plaza Senayan had been changed from a green area to a commercial area ever since the governorships of Surjadi Soedirdja and former state minister/state secretary Moerdiono.

But the councillors argued that the area's status as a green area had been restored last year through a new bylaw. Any development in the area should be related to sporting activities. (jun)