Cirebon Kindergarten Building Demolished for Merah Putih Cooperative, Camat Explains

REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, Cirebon – A video narrated as showing the demolition of a Kindergarten (TK) building for the construction of the Merah Putih Cooperative has gone viral on social media. It is located in Guwa Kidul Village, Kaliwedi District, Cirebon Regency.

In the 1 minute 33 seconds video, a building is shown being demolished, with part of the wall being torn down. The roof tiles have been removed and only the frame remains.

A woman’s voice is heard explaining the demolition activity, which she says is being carried out by the village government. She has reported the matter to the President and Governor of West Java, Dedi Mulyadi.

In response to the video, Kaliwedi sub-district head (Camat) Hardomo provided an explanation. He said the Kindergarten building stands on village-owned land. Of the three rooms used for the kindergarten, two are also village-owned and had previously been used as rooms for PKK and Karang Taruna activities.

“Previously, because PKK activities were not held every month, they were often empty, and the kindergarten did not yet have a building, so those rooms were used for kindergarten learning,” Hardomo explained yesterday.

The kindergarten is under the Darul Faruq Foundation and has stood since around 1980. The permission to use the PKK and Karang Taruna buildings as a kindergarten was granted by the village head at the time.

Of the two kindergarten buildings that were demolished and went viral on social media, they are village-owned and were formerly PKK and Karang Taruna rooms. The remaining building that is still in use was built by the foundation.

“That sits on village-owned land. If the foundation carries out educational activities, it should be on land owned by the foundation itself. The village has never forced them to build there,” he said.