Fate of Hotel Sultan to be Decided Thursday, Workers Urge Cancellation of Eviction

A number of Hotel Sultan employees are urging that the execution process for the hotel’s land by the Central Jakarta District Court be postponed. The Central Jakarta District Court has scheduled the eviction of Block 15 GBK, the former Hotel Sultan area, for Thursday (18/6). The protest was staged by Hotel Sultan employees, labourers, and other parties united in the Civil Coalition for the Defence of Indigenous Entrepreneurs. They declared their readiness to block the execution through a peaceful, orderly, and constitutional civil movement. “We are ready to obstruct the planned execution of Hotel Sultan through peaceful and constitutional action. The execution must not be forced by ignoring justice, legal certainty, and the rights of all interested parties,” said Al Hams Qamarallah, acting as the main orator, to journalists on Monday (15/6). They stated that the disputed object in the case relates to land. However, the execution is deemed potentially to extend to the building and business of Hotel Sultan, which has been owned and managed by PT Indobuildco. “The object of the dispute is land. But what is threatened with closure and takeover is not just the land, but also the building, the hotel business, jobs, tenants, vendors, and the economic livelihoods of many people,” said Al Hams. According to them, there is no court ruling that explicitly states the building and business of Hotel Sultan do not belong to PT Indobuildco. Therefore, a land dispute should not be used as a basis to take over buildings and business activities without a release of rights and fair compensation. Furthermore, the coalition reminded that Hotel Sultan’s operations are directly linked to the business continuity and economic livelihoods of many parties, including employees, daily workers, tenants, suppliers, vendors, event organisers, and various business partners. The coalition is carrying six demands. First, cancel the Hotel Sultan execution, as they believe forcing the execution without fulfilling these conditions could potentially create new legal problems and consequences. They also urge a resolution through negotiation between PT Indobuildco and the State Secretariat Ministry, or to wait until all legal issues have obtained a final and binding court ruling. Second, respect the priority rights of the Right to Build (HGB) holder. The coalition asks the government to implement laws and regulations and respect PT Indobuildco’s position as the HGB holder. Third, protect workers and third parties. They demand guarantees for the protection of the rights of Hotel Sultan employees, labourers, tenants, vendors, suppliers, business actors, and all affected third parties. Fourth, prioritise negotiation and a fair solution. The coalition urges that the dispute be resolved through a transparent, fair, and dignified legal mechanism that produces a solution not detrimental to any party. Fifth, protect the rights of indigenous entrepreneurs. And finally, maintain national stability, whereby they ask the government to consider the social and political impacts if the execution is forced. Previously, the Central Jakarta District Court conducted a constatering, or data matching of the disputed object, as a follow-up to the planned execution of the Hotel Sultan Jakarta land on Monday (16/3). Based on CNNIndonesia.com’s monitoring, the constatering was attended by the Central Jakarta District Court, the State Secretariat Ministry and the Gelora Bung Karno Complex Management Centre (PPKGBK) as the execution applicants, the Ministry of Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning/National Land Agency, and the police. “Constatering means matching, ensuring the boundaries are in accordance with what we requested from us as the second applicant, PPKGBK, and the first applicant, the State Secretariat Ministry, regarding state property in Block 15,” said PPKGBK President Director Rakhmadi Afif Kusumo to journalists on Monday. “Earlier this morning we heard directly from the registrar that constatering for Block 15 has been and is being carried out, checking the former HGB 26 and former HGB 27 which should have become state property,” he continued. Rakhmadi also asserted that the Hotel Sultan land is state property, so the execution process will continue. “So from our perspective, we adhere to the fact that this is already legally binding in the sense of State Property (BMN), where this asset has already become state property. Our spirit, from the direction of the leadership of the State Secretariat Ministry, is of course how to secure and optimise that state property,” he said.