City offers carrot to SMP 56 students, protest continues

City offers carrot to SMP 56 students, protest continues

Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Students remaining at the disputed SMP 56 junior high school in
South Jakarta could re-register at other city-run schools for
free as they could no longer return to their old classrooms on
Monday, the Jakarta administration said on Saturday.

The announcement followed a move by city officials to seal the
compound and remove furniture and other property from the school
buildings on Wednesday.

The administration promised free tuition to the students if
they agreed not to continue studying at the Melawai school.

"We will accommodate all of the students ... They can go to
any city-run junior high school for free," City Basic Education
Agency head Sylviana Murni said on Saturday.

Ninety-five students had remained at the school to protest a
land swap deal made by the education ministry and a local
businessman. However government officials say as the legal
dispute between parents, teachers and the government had not
ended and the school remained illegal.

Meanwhile, teachers and parents at Melawai school said they
could not accept its closure, which had taken place while
students were on their Idul Fitri holidays.

"We will report Governor Sutiyoso to the City Council. He must
be held responsible for his arrogant action of clearing the
school when no one was there," Lambok Gultom, the lawyer
representing teachers and students, told The Jakarta Post on
Saturday.

He slammed the administration for taking action before the
Supreme Court had determined the legal status of the school,
which is in an area being developed into a business district.

School committee chairman Jonni R. Elian said on Saturday none
of the officials had contacted parents about the free tuition.

"How can we believe that they will accommodate our children? I
don't think they are serious," he said.

The dispute started in 2000 when the Ministry of Education and
PT Tata Disantara -- owned by former manpower minister Abdul
Latief -- signed a land swap deal.

In the deal, PT Tata gave the government a property in Jeruk
Purut and another in Bintaro, both in South Jakarta, in exchange
for the Melawai premises, which was built in the 1930s.

Gultom said some of the teachers and parents had refused to
move to the new Jeruk Purut school as they suspected corruption
in the deal.

He said the property tax valuation of the land, which should
have been valued at Rp 9.65 million (US$1,072) per square meter
in 2000, was only valued at Rp 5 million per square meter by PT
Tata.

Meanwhile, Commission for Child Protection chairman Seto
Mulyadi called for all parties involved in the dispute to quickly
negotiate a deal so that the students would not become victims of
the conflict.

"The students' education should be put first. They must get
good and recognized training," he said

Seto said he was neutral in the dispute but would support any
probe against possible corrupt practices involving the
controversial land swap.