Council not informed about barter accord

JAKARTA (JP): City councilors expressed concern yesterday over the city administration's decision to approve an agreement for the barter of a city-owned gymnastics hall in Central Jakarta without first consulting with the council.

The barter deal was uncovered only yesterday, during a visit by a group of councilors to a number of city-owned sports facilities in Central and East Jakarta.

Yudi Suyoto, an official of the City Sports Office, revealed that the city administration has approved a plan to hand over the gymnastics hall, on Jl. Kampung Lima Dalam, to a private company.

In exchange, the company is to build a new, international- standard gymnastics hall on a 7,557-square-meter plot of land on Jl. Raden Intan in East Jakarta.

The company plans to use the Jl. Kampung Lima Dalam site for the construction of a business center, Yudi said.

"I do not know the developer's name," Yudi replied to an inquiry by the council's Siti Maryam Achmad. Siti is a member of commission E, which is responsible for public welfare.

Ronggo Sutrisno Tahir, the commission's deputy chairman, said he had never heard of the plan.

"I know nothing about the plan, please ask the city officials," he said in response to reporters' questions.

Ary Amier Armas, another member of commission E, said that the city administration has disappointed the City Council by its failure to provide the latter with adequate information.

"We need more information as input for the city development programs," he said.

Ary also criticized the failure of the head of the city sports office, Edy Widodo, to accompany the council group on its tour of the city's sports facilities.

According to Councilor Djenny Suharso, a member of commission A -- which is in charge of administration, security and public order -- all barter agreements involving city-owned properties must be approved by the council.

The existing gymnastics hall, which occupies an area of 2,900 sq. meters, is being used to train Jakarta gymnasts in the lead- up to the next National Games, PON XIV. The games are to be held here in September next year.

Nineteen gymnasts are undergoing training in the hall, according to trainer T.J. Purba, who added that he hoped the barter deal would not disturb their training programs.

He said that the hall is also used by pupils of nearby schools.

Yudi said that the new gymnastics hall is expected to be completed before next year's games. (32)