City loses case on private markets

City loses case on private markets

The Jakarta government lost a case filed by property and retail
businesses with the State Administrative Court over its
gubernatorial decree on privately owned markets.

The court ruling was made public by officials from the city
administration's legal bureau on Friday.

In its ruling dated April 21, the court ordered the governor
to revoke the decree.

Decree No. 44/2003 stipulates that the managements of
privately owned markets have to allocate 20 percent of their
floor space for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), instead of
paying monetary compensation as provided for in the 2002 Bylaw on
privately owned markets.

Many people, including the councillors, argued that this 2002
stipulation opened the door to corruption, as much of the money
did not in fact go to the SMEs.

However, the Association of Indonesian Real Estate Companies
(REI), the Association of Indonesian Retailers and the
Association of Indonesian Shopping Center Managements objected to
the decree, which they said could scare investors away and
infringed on their right to manage their own properties.

Councillor Syarif Zulkarnaen, the chairman of the City
Council's economics commission, suspected something untoward was
afoot.

"After the revocation of this decree, the officials will be
able to gain illicit benefit once again from the monetary
compensation payments," he said after meeting with officials from
the legal bureau. --JP