City insists on handing over school to private owner

City insists on handing over school to private owner

Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

To cut its own losses in the prolonged legal dispute revolving
around a vacant school building on Jl. Melawai Raya, South
Jakarta, the Jakarta administration has insisted that it will
hand over the school to PT Tata Disantara, its current owner.

City Legal Office head Deded Sukandar told The Jakarta Post on
Monday that the administration had to fulfill its part in the
exchange deal made between PT Tata and the now-defunct Jakarta
office of the Ministry of National Education in 2000.

"We need to immediately end the uncertainty over the status of
two school premises provided by PT Tata as part of the deal ...
We won't wait for the final court ruling on the property," he
said.

The city has used a school building in Jeruk Purut, South
Jakarta, to relocate the SMP 56 junior high school in Melawai and
a school building in Bintaro, also in South Jakarta, for SMA 87
high school, which is not connected to the Melawai dispute.

He made the statement following the announcement made by the
Attorney General's Office on Friday that it had named Usman
Ismail, the president director of Tata, a suspect in the dubious
deal, which has caused Rp 12.4 billion (US$1.33 million) in state
losses.

Deded argued that the administration had no compelling reason
to delay the hand over of the building to Tata after it managed
to vacate the building and relocate 54 students of the school who
had earlier refused to leave their school in Melawai to the
nearby SMP 13 on Jl. Tirtayasa two weeks ago.

"Any further delay will simply mean the administration will
incur more costs for the maintenance of the school. Besides, the
administration had nothing to do with the past deal between the
company and the education ministry," he asserted.

The administration has been dragged into the legal arena after
the implementation of the Autonomy Law in 2000, placing the
management of schools in Jakarta under the city administration.

PT Tata, which belongs to former manpower minister Abdul
Latief, had earlier asked the administration to return the Jeruk
Purut and Bintaro premises should the latter fail to take over
the Melawai building from the protesting teachers and parents who
had refused to move to the new school building.

PT Tata said the Melawai property would be converted into a
business college. However, many people suspect it would be made
into a shopping complex as it is located less than 50 meters from
the Pasaraya Grande shopping center in Blok M, also owned by
Latief.

Separately, assistant to the city secretary for people's
welfare Rohana Manggala confirmed the administration's decision
to go ahead with the hand over, scheduled for Thursday.