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)