Demolition of Grogol wall continues amidst protest
Demolition of Grogol wall continues amidst protest
JAKARTA (JP): Tension flared yesterday when dozens of youngsters tried, unsuccessfully, to prevent some 100 city police from demolishing a wall surrounding a 1.5-hectare plot of land in Grogol, West Jakarta.
Claiming to be the rightful owners of the plot, the angry youths brandished sticks and iron bars while others stood in the way of the police to prevent the demolition.
"If you have any problems or complaints regarding the demolition, you can bring them to the West Jakarta mayoralty," head of the West Jakarta security and order department, Karsidin, told the youths.
Two people were reportedly detained for disrupting security on the scene.
Karsidin said he was only implementing an order of the governor. The crowd, however, told him that the Jakarta State Administrative Court had issued a legal order on Wednesday to postpone the demolition.
The land in dispute was previously used by local residents as a soccer field. It was also reported Last November, that the plot had been fenced in by PT Sabar Ganda, a private company which planned to use the land for a school building.
The West Jakarta mayoralty issued an order on Jan. 29 to demolish the wall, prompting Sabar Ganda to file a lawsuit with the state administrative court.
"We'll continue to defend our rights," a lawyer representing the company said yesterday.
The plot is part of a 20-hectare area, which, in 1968, was handed over from the city police to the city administration for social and public facilities. But sources at the West Jakarta city administration say that the government plans to build a mini stadium on it.
A number of land demolition cases, regarded as potentially volatile and destabilizing in nature, have been recorded in Jakarta in recent months. Most end up with residents squaring off against government officials.
Karsidin said, however, that this latest demolition reflects the city administration's vow to punish those who violate regulations regarding land use and ownership.(14)