Former SMP 56 teacher fights to be reinstated

Former SMP 56 teacher fights to be reinstated

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The former principal of State Junior High School (SMP) 56,
Nurlaila, is planning to sue Governor Sutiyoso in the State
Administrative Court next Monday for firing her as a civil
servant.

"The letter, which had the intent of discharging me, was
issued on Dec. 6, 2004, but it said that I was fired since
February (2004). Such a letter cannot be retroactive, that's why
I am going to State Administrative Court," she told The Jakarta
Post on Monday on the sidelines of an education seminar held at
the National Library, Central Jakarta.

Nurlaila said she was the only teacher who still rejected the
land-swap deal between the Ministry of National Education and PT
Tata Disantara, a company owned by former minister of manpower
Abdul Latif, in 2000, which forced the school to move out from
the strategic business area in Melawai to Jeruk Purut, both in
South Jakarta.

Fearing that they would be fired, all her fellow SMP 56
teachers chose to move to designated replacement schools in Jeruk
Purut, South Jakarta. The schools were state junior high schools
(SMP) 11, 12, 13, 19, all of which are located in South Jakarta.

"The reason why I'm still fighting for my rights is because
there has been no legal judgment on the status of my school. The
judge at the South Jakarta District Court said that the school
status is unchanged," the 48-year old said.

She said that the administration had also stopped paying her
salary since last year and taken away her rights as a civil
servant to receive any other facilities, including a pension. The
city administration downgraded her civil servant rank from IV-A
to III-D.

The case of the land-swap is now in the Supreme Court, after
both the South Jakarta District Court and the High Court threw
out a civil suit against the Ministry of National Education and
PT Tata Disantara.

Aside from administrative problems, Nurlaila believed that
there was an indication of corruption in the land-swap deal
because the land was only sold for only Rp 2.5 million per square
meter, while the tax valuation of the land was Rp 9.65 million
per square meter.

Nurlaila, who was supported by lawyers from Legal Aid LBH APIK
and the Human Rights Lawyers Association (APHI), said she was
convinced that if the judges at the State Administrative Court
were fair, she would win the case.

"Unless the judges take sides in favor of powerful persons
that I'm up against, I will win the case. But, win or loose I
already gathered support to continue struggling for my rights,"
said the woman, who had taught at SMP 56 since 1990. (006)