CBD Pluit encircles school land
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Development comes at a cost -- at least for the 800 students and teachers of Pluit Raya school whose campus is surrounded by the ongoing construction of a business center.
Flags and banners, a modern painted construction fence and tall cranes have changed the face of the school, where a mosque stands, located less than 100 meters from Jembatan Tiga-Pluit intersection, North Jakarta, or only one hour from the Soekarno- Hatta International Airport.
Despite the fact that the developer of CBD Pluit denied that it planned to occupy the school's lot, including the mosque belonging to school management Mukhlisin Foundation, the current physical condition of the school suggests otherwise.
"Our entrance from the now unused Sasana Krida sports hall has been muddy since the construction project started in May," Pluit Raya high school principal Sujud Hanafi told The Jakarta Post on Friday.
Walking to the side of the school, the building is practically surrounded by piles of soil dredged from the construction site of the project.
Sujud said that the school operator had more than once complained to the developer, the North Jakarta Education Office, as well as City Hall.
"Finally, the developer gave us Rp 50 million to build a side entrance and a signboard in front of the school," he said. "We have not actually had any other inconvenience besides the muddy entrance, but I am afraid that when they start piling up the soil on the site of the former sports hall, we will feel the effect of the project."
He added that previously there had been talks among the members of the foundation to move the school to neighboring Teluk Gong area.
"But, some of the students would have to travel farther than they do now. And anyway the foundation head disapproved," Sujud said. "It is very unlikely that we will move the school."
However, Sujud confirmed that currently the foundation was holding negotiations with the developer at the request of the developer to hand over the lot.
CBD Pluit advertising and promotion manager Sugema, however, asserted that the project would not harm the school.
"We are developing the project as far as people can see now, the school and the mosque are not within the plot," he told the Post over the phone.
The complex, which is currently in the initial stages, under the management of Agung Podomoro and city-owned PT Jakarta Propertindo, will consist of blocks of shop houses, town houses, an exclusive condominium, office towers, a shopping mall and a hotel.(003)