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