Bogor mayor ready to face lawsuit

Bogor mayor ready to face lawsuit

JAKARTA (JP): Bogor Mayor Eddi Gunardi has said that he is ready to face a lawsuit should the owner of bulldozed house choose to file one.

The house, built without permission, was demolished by mayoralty law and order agency officers earlier this month.

"Let her file a lawsuit at the West Java Administrative Court. I'm ready to face it," Eddi was quoted by Antara as saying in Bogor on Monday.

Eddi made the remark in answer to a question about the possibility that Mrs. Amina Toriq, the owner of the demolished building, would sue the mayor.

The house, built without the necessary permit, had been located on 2,000-square meters of land on Jl. Terusan Bukit Tunggul in North Bogor and was valued at approximately Rp 1 billion (US$454,545).

Eddi said that the house's owner had known that the area on which the house was built had been earmarked by the Bogor city administration for the construction of an outer ring road.

Although Mrs. Amina's application for a building permit had been turned down on Oct. 1, 1993, Eddi said, she had continued to build the house.

The demolition began on Jan. 19 but was postponed briefly following the issuance of a 60-day injunction by the West Java court.

The mayor, however, instructed his subordinates to continue demolition, ignoring the court's decision on the grounds that the ruling wasn't "fair."

"Having studied the ruling from various legal standpoints, and in order to uphold the city administration's authority, I decided that the demolition had to go on," the mayor said.

Mrs. Amina has yet to comment on the demolition. (hhr)