Fadel Muhammed's renovations undone

Fadel Muhammed's renovations undone

The city buildings supervision agency dismantled on Monday an
unauthorized structure at the house of Fadel Muhammad, the
incumbent governor of Gorontalo, because the ongoing renovation
process has violated city regulations.

Agency head Adi Sarnadi said renovation of the house,located
on Jl. Suwiryo 39, Menteng, Central Jakarta, was in breach of a
1975 gubernatorial decree that permits limited alterations to
buildings in historical Menteng.

"The renovation does not conform with the license that was
granted," he said.

According to Adi, the original Dutch-style house is
categorized as Type B, meaning that any renovations deemed to be
necessary must not change the original appearance of the building
or its roof. However, the house was in the process of being
turned into a two-story, modern building.

The demolition began at about 11 a.m., carried out by agency
workers and public order officers, guarded by police. The workers
hired to renovate the house also helped in dismantling the new
roof and the structure they had erected.

The Central Jakarta Buildings Supervision Agency had issued
warnings to halt the renovation work and return the house to its
original state since August, but these had been ignored.

"It was just last week that the developer came and promised to
dismantle the new structure ... Upon observing that no work had
been carried out since that time, we decided to do it ourselves
today," Adi said.

Fadel could not be reached for comment. -- JP