Firm summoned for damaging old building

Firm summoned for damaging old building

JAKARTA (JP): The City Council will summon a private developer
for allegedly damaging a protected historical building on Jl.
Teuku Umar, Menteng subdistrict, Central Jakarta, a councilor
said on Monday.

The head of the council's Commission E for social welfare, Edy
Suchro, said the council would question PT Mandala Griya Cipta
over missing items in the building which once served as the
Central Jakarta Immigration Office.

"We believe that the theft of the historical items was the
work of professionals, not of looters as stated by the company,"
Edy, a member of the National Mandate Party (PAN), said after
surveying the Dutch-style building with other councilors.

He said the developer must have had a hand in the
disappearance of the items, including door frames and antique
lamps, because the building has been protected by a high fence
since September last year.

The invaluable items were likely removed intentionally by
people with the firm's consent, he said.

The City Council also regrets that parts of the building,
including the walls and the roof, have been damaged, he said.

Edy said that although Mandala Griya Cipta was the legal owner
of the building, the company was not allowed to renovate or
damage the structure, which has been listed as one of the city's
protected historical buildings.

He said the firm violated city Bylaw No. 9/1999 on historical
buildings, and Law No. 5/1992 on protected buildings.

The 1999 city bylaw stipulates that anybody found guilty of
damaging a protected building faces a maximum of six months in
jail and a fine of up to Rp 5 million (US$625), while the 1992
law carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in jail and a fine of
up to Rp 100 million.

Edy said he suspected the firm, which allegedly is owned by
former president Soeharto's youngest son Hutomo "Tommy" Mandala
Putra, acquired the building in an illegal land exchange deal
with the Ministry of Justice.

"The deal was signed in 1997 when Soeharto was still in power.
(The deal) must have been full of corruption and collusion," he
said.

The firm's technical director, Perkas M., said on Friday the
firm took over the building after signing a Rp 9 billion deal
with the ministry. The deal stipulated that in exchange for the
former immigration office, the firm was to renovate a building in
Kemayoran, Central Jakarta, and construct a new building in Pulo
Gebang, East Jakarta, for the ministry.

The company also denied damaging the historical building,
laying the blame at the feet of unidentified looters.

However, the developer admitted responsibility for the
building and the missing items, offering a Rp 1 billion reward
for information leading to the recovery of the items.

Meanwhile, Central Jakarta Mayor Andi Subur Abdullah
questioned the original land exchange deal, saying the building
and the 3,000 square meters of land it stood on were worth at
least Rp 30 billion.(jun)