City claims no losses as schools demolished

City claims no losses as schools demolished

JAKARTA (JP): The city administration yesterday clarified
confusing reports accusing PT Kredosindo Perkasa of demolishing
city administration assets to make way for the construction of
its Sudirman Tower Condominium project in Central Jakarta.

"What was demolished by PT Kredosindo were not properties
owned by the city administration but those belonging to Perguruan
Rakyat foundation," Prawoto S. Danoemihardjo, assistant of City
Secretary, told reporters.

PT Kredosindo started demolishing a number of buildings,
including school buildings, 20 days ago. This demolition forced
over 400 students of elementary, junior and high schools operated
by Perguruan Rakyat foundation to move to three other schools.

Prawoto said that the 1,800 square meter plot of land on which
the school buildings stood on belongs to the city administration.

The Perguruan Rakyat foundation has been allowed to use the
plot and its buildings in replacement of properties on Jl.
Salemba, which were confiscated by the administration in the
1960s. The foundation built additional buildings in 1970s.

After visiting the project site on Monday, members of the City
Council demanded that the developer not demolish the city's
assets before the compensation is determined .

"We will not allow the developer to demolish city assets as
the compensation has not been determined yet," Prawoto said.

Recently a similar incident occurred, involving the demolition
of school buildings without the consent of the city
administration by PT Catur Swasakti Utama, the developer of Taman
Rasuna apartment in Kuningan, South Jakarta. Prawoto said the
city administration is striving to prevent such an incident from
occurring again.

Moved

M.U. Fatommy Asaari, a member of the City Council Commission A
for Government, Security and Public order said that the city's
properties yet to be demolished on the site include school
buildings, a youth center and a subdistrict office.

"Further demolitions need the approval of the City Council,"
Asaari said, acknowledging that this is a very complicated
problem as it is not easy to separate the value of the buildings
from the land.

Asaari also said that the foundation has moved its 400
students to three separate schools in Srengseng and Kalibata in
South Jakarta and Karet in Central Jakarta because its new school
building, built by the PT Kredosindo in Pondok Kelapa, East
Jakarta, is not completed yet.

The city councilor said that due to such conditions the
foundation did not accept new students at the beginning of the
new academic year last July.

Prawoto said that the selection of the new site in Pondok
Kelapa is the result of an agreement between the developer and
the foundation under the rate of compensation set by the city
administration. (yns)