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.