Construction halted near old Supreme Court building

Construction halted near old Supreme Court building

JAKARTA (JP): The city administration will hold off issuing
construction permits for a four-story building behind the
protected former Supreme Court building in Central Jakarta, an
official said on Friday.

Central Jakarta Mayor Andi Subur Abdullah said the owner of
the planned new building, the Directorate General of the Budget
of the Ministry of Finance, should first repair damage caused to
the Supreme Court building on Jl. Lapangan Banteng Timur before
the construction could proceed.

"We will suspend issuing the building construction permit
(IMB) until they repair the damage. We will also take them to
court for the damage they've caused," he said at City Hall.

"We'll take both actions simultaneously."

Andi Subur said he would meet with the building's owner and
the developer at the mayoralty office on Monday to discuss the
matter.

The mayor played down the possibility of construction workers
holding a protest due to the delay in construction activities.

"What's the problem? They can shift the workers' job to
repairing the damaged building. That should settle it," he said.

The city administration and several parties are concerned
about the damage to the listed building, which was constructed in
1828 as part of the Dutch colony's new administrative center.

The act of damaging protected buildings is punishable under
1992 Law No. 5 on heritage sites, which carries maximum sentences
of a 10-year jail term or a Rp 100 million (US$14,285) fine.

The fact that the new building also lacked a construction
permit angered city secretary Fauzi Bowo, who instructed his
subordinates to stop the project, but to no avail.

The city's team on restoration projects inspected the site on
Thursday, but was unable to meet with a representative of the
directorate.

Team deputy chairman Noersaijidi M. Koesoemo praised the
mayoralty's decision, saying it showed the team's recommendation
to halt the issuance of the permit was heeded.

"We also found out that they (directorate officials) had a
secret plan to demolish all of the former Supreme Court's annex,
which is also an old structure, to be replaced with an entrance
to the new building," Noersaijidi told The Jakarta Post.

"But they never mentioned the plan to us."

Andi Subur said the annex was an inseparable part of the
protected building.

"They would have to rebuild it to its original state," he
said. (05/ind)